In Search of Panacea…

Summer… a time for resting, relaxing and rejuvenation. And so I find myself today at the beach in a place called Panacea… a small village on “the forgotten coast.” The weather forecast for our stay: rain every day… not considered good news for a beach trip. Between showers, during a late afternoon walk on the sparsely populated beach the day after our arrival, my wife and I encounter other souls on this thinly populated piece of paradise.

We speak with a couple that it turns out are natives. We ask questions about the quality of the surf, the alligators and snakes visible in the brackish water of the canal adjacent to the beach house we are staying. We were told that the gators rarely travel further in the surf than the point at which we met, about 400 yards west of where we are staying and then only in times of flooding like this week… the snakes, well while present, are not an overwhelming presence and for the most part non-venomous.

And so it is … A problem or two even in paradise. Ironic to encounter this in a place called Panacea. But how typical of real life. Nothing is perfect unless we deem it so.

Ah, but at last we are away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. In a place, for the most part, that time has forgotten… a place rich with wildlife diversity of the natural sort… Making the best of the situation, we enjoy the amazing variety of shore birds, whole live muscles the size of your palm plentiful enough to lure you into the thought of collecting for a meal, once again experiencing an abundance of fish and crabs, which have become all too uncommon on the popular beaches further to the west… No condos…The Florida of my youth… a place to which others have attached the name: Panacea.

I reflect on the name of the place we have landed: Panacea a solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases… Panacea a word describing something that will make everything about a situation better… a cure all.

This gets me to thinking… My job as a Realtor, often has me chasing perfection. It has me working long hours: 10-12 a day, pretty close to 7 days a week. From a distance it looks easy. But then what doesn’t look easy from afar. I’m not complaining… Just reflecting… Salt air, ocean breezes, crashing waves and gull songs make me pensive.

There are no perfect solutions. No cure alls… No panaceas. But that does not mean that we must remain captives of the perfection pursuit… rejecters of the incremental progress toward improvement. The real estate market is but one example. While so much better than a few years ago and ever improving, there is always the next problem the next reason to complain or become anxious. We are always faced with problems: too much inventory, too little inventory, high interest rates, tight credit, loose credit, rising prices, falling prices, static prices… and even when those rare moments of balance occur, we miss them waiting or looking for something better. How many clients have missed good deals in search of the illusive ideal deal.

Experience has taught me that the winners are those who actually take action. Those who see the possibility in what others find fault. With that thought, I’ll head back to the beach holding my wife’s hand on this our last day before heading home… glad to have seen a glimpse of paradise, imperfect as it is.

May the Market be with you…