There is good news and bad news. Let’s start with the bad. There are
left until the market begins the long process of a rebound to better days. That would be April 1, 2010. No one wants to hear that, but let’s face reality. We are in the worst economic slump, the worst real estate slump, the worst banking and mortgage slump, the worst automobile slump, the worst manufacturing slump, . . . need I go on? The list is very lengthy. But the slump is not just a little corner of the United States, or even a little corner of the world. This is a world wide disaster of major proportions. Every day the news headlines are not just peppered with a couple of corporate challenges, they are full of dozens of disastrous corporate reports of bankruptcies and other leading indications of a depression.   Federal, State, County, and City governments are under extreme financial stress, too.   Some think the stock market is perking back up, but the stock market has shown an uncanny ability to bounce up and down on political news with total disregard for fundamentals.

Okay, that’s the bad news. We all know about the bad news.   What’s the good news?   (more…)

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This is an excellent time for all of us to be encouraged. Yes, it seems everyone is going through a personal crisis, some great financial stress, others the potential loss of a home or a business. Retirement funds are at risk, and many segments of our economy, including real estate, have come to a screeching and painful halt.

How could I suggest this is a time to be encouraged? While our material and financial losses and struggles are great, we can and ought to focus on those things that are most important, not on those things that are least important.

What are the things in life that are most important? What can we be thankful for? How can we count our blessings in a time like this?

I believe that life is all about relationships, not things.   Do you believe that?   If you do, then like me you know that if you had all the money in the world, but you had lost all those whom you love most, life would seem empty.   If you owned millions of dollars in real estate rentals all free and clear, but you did not have a single family member or friend who loved you, it would all be for naught.

May I suggest that we thank God for our loved ones, for our friends, for all our relationships that really make this life so precious?

Do you have a husband or wife who loves you?   You have been blessed.   Do you have children?   You have been blessed and will be blessed far into your senior years when your children delight your soul, because as we get older we realize how much  our lives thrive from our relationships with our children.   Do you have grandchildren?   Is it not a heart warming experience to watch their facial expressions and hear their giggles when they open your Christmas gifts?   Does that not make your day, your week, your month?

Too many of us don’t realize how blessed we are until we lose what we have.   Many of us have lost a spouse to death or divorce.   Some of us have lost a child.   I hope and pray you will never suffer such losses.   The depths of sorrow of a broken heart cannot possibly be expressed in words.   I know.

When we lose those who are most precious to us, we realize how little things matter.   Money, real estate, investments, and toys all take on a new insignificance.   These things  mean absolutely nothing when you suffer the greatest of losses in life–the loss of loved ones.

So what do you have to be thankful for today?   Can you count your blessings?   May I encourage you to stop dwelling on all that has gone wrong and on all that could possibly go wrong in the months ahead, and instead focus on how much has gone right and on how many things you have to be thankful for?   You and I have been abundantly blessed.   We just need to think on that more often.

I would like to suggest that every time you find yourself dwelling on the negatives that surround you in these trying days, immediately force yourself to count one great positive blessing in your life.   And along the way, seek to find humor in your challenges, and make a point of laughing about them.   Laughter is medicine for the soul.

Have faith that things will get better.   I promise you that after a time of trial, they always do.

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It is settled.   Our next President is Hussein Obama.   This has been one of the most intense elections America has seen, period.   We had record voter turnouts, and more passion and involvement than I’ve ever seen in a presidential election.   There was a lot at stake here, too, including the economy, taxation, health care, and the war, just to name a few.   Americans have been wound up tighter than a banjo spring.   So now what?

Be encouaged.   We still live in the greatest country on the face of the earth.   We are in very challenging times.   We have a war to bring to an end.   We have a banking system in shambles, a real estate market that has fallen flat on its face, and the automobile industry has crashed.   But America has seen bad times before, and we have come back again and again.

As I have written elsewhere, in every crisis there is opportunity.   Right now the opportunity is for buyers of real estate and buyers of stocks.   Not just any real estate and not just any stock.   As with all purchases, there must be due diligence and prudence.   We all know that there will be fortunes made in this next 12 to 24 months by those investing in the right real estate and the right stocks.

I strongly urge anyone who is in a position to buy real estate in this incredible buyer’s market to get good advice, use a professional you can trust who has knowledge, experience, and integrity.   In my opinion, if you have the funds and pass up this opportunity to buy,  years from now you will look back with regret at missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.   Our economy, our real estate market, and our political environment will never be in this perfect storm again.   Not in our lifetimes.   You may have lost money in this past year as prices for almost everything went down, especially in the stock market, but don’t miss the opportunity to profit by the huge upsurge in the market that is coming.

My personal formula for success in these coming months is based on proven principles and values:   hard work, focus, diligence and persistence, creativity, positive attitude, and faith.

Practice these things, and I can guarantee you that in 12 to 24 months you will join me in saying, “Everything is okay.   Life is good.”   And you will count your blessings every day.   By the way, don’t wait until then to count your blessings.   Count them today and every day.   We do have much to be thankful for in this great country.

Don’t let adverse circumstances discourage you.   I learned long ago that if circumstances or people were the determinants of my happiness, I would be unhappy the majority of my life.   I choose to be content and happy every day.   How about you?

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I grew up in Alaska where my father and I had to hunt and fish for food to survive.   Literally.   My father was self-employed and a hard working man, but he didn’t make much money.   We lived in a 900 square foot cabin in Alaska, without electricity and without running water.   It was my responsibility as a boy to keep the wood stove going, even at 60 degrees below, and to keep the Coleman lantern going  when it got dark.   My sisters hated the outhouse, because they had to sit on a cold toilet seat.   It didn’t bother me and my brothers so much.

That was 40 years ago. I think we have finally reached the tipping point in America, and conservatism lost.   Despite all the passionate talk by conservatives about how they will continue to fight the good fight, and despite Republican strategist Ed Rollins’ claim that “We will be back,” the truth is, in my bold opinion, the nation has finally reached the point of no-return, the tipping point, and we will never go back.

[I took this photo of the the Alaska Range at 1:30 in the morning in the summer when the days are long.   I hunted with my father in these mountains for Dall Sheep.   Those were good times.]

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