REBIRTH

                                                            Real Estate Journal
                                                                   REBIRTH
 
                                                 By Bill Barksdale, GRI Realtor®

For forty years I’ve had a quote from the great dancer, Martha Graham, on my desk. She said “There is a vitality, a Life-Force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And, if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it.”

I was recently talking with a local real estate investor. He’s investing in commercial properties in town. He, like I, see a bright future for Willits. There’s good reason for our mutual optimism. The Bay Area is becoming too expensive for most people to live in. A starter condo in San Francisco is a million dollars. The medium-priced house in Santa Rosa is around seven-hundred-thousand dollars. Even a house in Ukiah is, on average, considerably more expensive than Willits.

In addition, we have a new state-of-the-art hospital. This at a time when small town hospitals are closing all over the country. Willits is also located in a beautiful part of the world. With our new downtown streets and sidewalks we have a kind of blank slate to reinvent our community to an extent.

After all, where are people going to move to? Mendocino County is one of the most affordable places to live in California, certainly on the western half of the state. Our area has a lot to offer in the way of creating a better life.

Oh, I’m not saying we don’t have challenges. We need to improve our schools and discipline in those schools. We have mental health and drug issues to deal with. We need to put a big effort into creating a lot more affordable housing. These are issues that most communities are dealing with.

Like any place or any life, there are challenges and obstacles. Obstacles stimulate analysis of your situation, and from that analysis come solutions. In his book The Obstacle Is the Way, author Ryan Holiday, talks about being aware of what you think about. Change what is in your power to change. Every obstacle has another aspect – a solution.

How you think about an obstacle is your choice. Ralph Waldo Emerson said “A man is what he thinks about”. In fact, making people aware of what they think about is the basis of virtually all great philosophies. Our actions are proceeded by our thoughts. If you let  someone else do your thinking for you, one of the booby-traps of mass media, you ignore your intuition and become a slave to another person’s desires. That’s a frustrating and unsatisfying way to live life.

We live in a society where distraction has become a business. With the internet and instant communication, our attention is often diverted to thoughts and matters that matter little. Lies are perverted into false gods, leading you down a path that leads nowhere good.

Philosopher and Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, addressed this nearly two thousand years ago. He said “Busy yourself with but few things if you would be tranquil.” He went on to say “For most of what we say and do is unnecessary, and if a man leaves them out, he will have more leisure and less trouble….leave off not only unnecessary acts, but also unnecessary thoughts, for thus superfluous acts will not follow after.” I highly recommend that you keep a copy of Marcus Aurelius’ book of Meditations next to the bed.  Read a single thought as you drift off to sleep.

The long and the short of this article is, choose to become part of the solution when it comes to making Willits a better place to live. There are a number of people and groups of people who are working on solutions. You can choose to join in or you can choose to do something to make things better on your own. Rebirth is a state of mind that you choose. 

Finding peace within is like planting a garden. You plant one seed at a time, nurture that thought and let it grow into something that grows peace of mind and makes a better place to live.

Bill Barksdale was a 2016 inductee into the Realtor® Hall of Fame. He is an agent at Coldwell Banker Mendo Realty inc.