Thursday, May 19, 2022

For some of us, seeing the best in others is a bit of a challenge, isn’t it?

Making a habit of looking for the best in others is a good way to improve the quality of your life, and probably, everyone else’s. It’s a choice you can make.

Some people are hard-wired to look for the good, while others are wired to look for the not so good—like being an optimist rather than a pessimist. Which would you rather be? I can guess which one is easier to be, making some of us jealous of those happy-go-lucky folks who make their way through life seeing the flowers and the sun on their petals, enjoying their fragrance. I personally tend to  look for the weeds, which, by the way, really irritate me. No matter how many we pull up, there are lots more to come. Looking at the flowers in all their glory just has to be the better way to go.

It’s easy to buy into a negative rumour or to think someone or a group is inherently bad. Or that someone did what they did because they intended to be difficult or were so oblivious to others’ feelings they simply don’t care.

It’s easy to dislike and vilify those whose opinions we disagree with. Just ask my wife. She’s taken to ducking as I hurl things at the TV while watching the 6 p.m. news. Swearing at the TV can be cathartic unless you’re an observer sitting nearby. I really must do better, I think, a few hours later. It doesn’t do my heart, digestion, or others any good to get angry with the prime minister, the premier, the mayor, or whomever it is on the screen. First, they can’t hear you and second, they couldn’t give a toss what you think, so why get upset? Easier said than done, I say.

A few days ago, someone—we  don’t know who—tweeted out what they said had been written in a REALTOR® Remark. When I read what was alleged to have been said I nearly had a stroke. I went from my semi-calm (which isn’t very calm), rational (which isn’t very rational) state to fury in about five seconds.

"We like to think there are more than a few people out there who like us and see us as hard-working individuals rather than as a collective. But there are some who don’t see us as individuals. They see us as a group, and for whatever reason, they just don’t like us."
Kim Spencer

First, I’d made the assumption that the tweet was true. Second, I began to think about who, in our profession, would say such a stupid thing? Then, I began to wonder who the villain was.

I asked our long-suffering MLS® Team Lead to find out who in blazes had said such a thing in their listing. Except, it seems, no one had. We did a word search of all the past few years’ REALTOR® Remarks to identify the culprit. It wouldn’t have mattered if the remark had been edited or removed after the tweet because our searching feature looks at original and changed content.

After a search of what was likely hundreds of thousands of listings and their REALTOR® Remarks, there was no result. Apparently, there aren’t a lot of members who dislike their profession so much that they’d intentionally damage its reputation with their comments.

Which leads me to believe that the tweeter was the one who originated the remark. We like to think there are more than a few people out there who like us and see us as hard-working individuals rather than as a collective. But there are some who don’t see us as individuals. They see us as a group, and for whatever reason, they just don’t like us. Maybe they were ill-served by a member in the past. Maybe they were once one of us but things didn’t work out. And maybe they’re just miserable, which is what I’ve decided to believe.

But wait, that’s not looking on the sunny side of things, is it? So, let’s just wish them well. They need good wishes. Imagine what it would be like to be them.