George's Blog

Most of the sermons that our Minister preaches on Sunday Morning hit home with me, in fact most of the time I think that the sermon is about me.  It isn’t, but that is what a good sermon should do, talk directly to us and make us look at ourselves.  Yesterday morning however, it was not the sermon that talked to me, but a story that he told about his daughter when she was in Kindergarten.  Most of us are familiar with a method of discipline called “Time Out”.  When a child misbehaves they are sent to for “Time Out” some where in the room or house by themselves, but this Kindergarten Teacher had a different method. 

His daughter came home and told him that one of the little boys in the class had missed behaved, and that the Teacher had sent him to the “Stop & Think Chair”.  Everyone at Church got a big laugh out of this, because no one had ever heard of the “Stop & Think Chair”.  But even though this got a smile out of me as well, I sat there thinking WOW could we as adults use a “Stop & Think Chair” in our lives every once in a while.  Sometimes are priorities get all twisted around “Are Your Goals For 2007 Prioritized Correctly” and we could sure use a “Stop & Think Chair” to get them back on track again.

God has Blessed me greatly in my personal life.  I have the comfort and strength that he gives me through His Word.  I have a wife that loves me, and two of the best boys that a father could ever ask for.  And I have a job that I love doing, and that I am eager to do each and everyday.  God has truly Blessed me in many ways.  But what good is any of this if I don’t stop and enjoy it.  When things start to get a little out of balance in my life, as they sometimes do, I need to send myself to the “Stop & Think Chair”.  We also need to consider using the “Stop & Think Chair” in our business life. 

This is the time of the year were we starting thinking of next year and the goals that we want to accomplish. This I believe is something that we must all do, because if we don’t set goals then how will we ever get to where we want to be “Key To Being A Successful Sales Person!!!”.  The problem is that sometimes we get so focused on those goals that we forget to take time to enjoy what we have already achieved.  What good is it to keep striving to meet goals, if we do not take the time to enjoy the ones we have already accomplished? We need to sometimes sit in a “Stop & Think Chair”, and come to the realization that it does not do any good to accumulate all of the wealth in the world, (Matt 6:19-20; Matt 16:26) but never get to enjoy it, because we are to busy trying to gain more.  I would dare to say, that there isn’t one person reading this Post, that does not have everything that they need in life.  Now “Stop & Think” I did not say that we have everything that we want in life, I said everything we need.  This does not mean that I do not still strive to meet other goals that I have set for myself, but it does mean that I can’t be so consumed with meeting those goals that they take over everything in my life.  The same thing goes for worrying about things that we do not have any control over. Worrying robs us of the joy of the present (Matt 6:25-34).

We need to use the “Stop & Think Chair” when it comes to dealing with other people, especially those that are our clients.  TLW wrote a Sunday blog this week on the “The Lovely Wife’s Ten Commandments of Real Estate….Roar!”. These were the “Thou Shall Not’s” for Realtors.  Loan Officers need to also consider similar “Thou Shall Not’s” along with some “Thou Shall’s” like, “Thou Shall return all your phone calls promptly”, Thou Shall take responsibility for your actions, and not blame your Underwriter”, or “Thou Shall take care of your Borrowers, the same way you would want to be taken care of yourself” (Luke 6:31) to just name a few.

So maybe we should have a “Stop & Think Chair” in our personal and business lives.  Not to punish us as it was used by the Kindergarten Teacher, but to sit and reflect upon what we have, and to not take it for granted that it will always be there (Luke 12:13-21).  Yes play hard, work hard, but enjoy what you have to its fullest.  How sad would it be if we woke up one morning and came to the sad realization that we had it all, but now it is too late to enjoy it, because it has past us by?  I have decided that I am going to take time during my week to sit in my “Stop & Think Chair”, I hope that those reading this will consider doing the same.

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Info about the author:

George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com