SamWatson.us
Way back in 2008, I started working in real estate. I was not a real estate agent, just some guy that took some classes on how to help people going through foreclosure. Before you think I was kicking people out of their homes, I would say about ninety percent of the people I worked with had already abandoned their homes. The house would have just sat there, vacant.
Surely you have heard the title of todays post quoted before. Supposedly the day Julius Ceaser was assassinated, warned ahead of time by a seer named Spurinna. The “ides” referred to the first new moon of the month, usually falling between the 13th and 15th. The Romans used the Ides of March as a time to settle debts, which made me think about my personal rules for giving.
Visiting Costa Rica in my early twenties, I had an opportunity to meet some of the locals at home. My aunt had married a man from the neighboring town, and one of the bird guides that worked at the lodge had a little crush on his niece. There was a custom where the guy and his intended would hang out on the bench or chairs on the front porch, like a chaperoned date. I thought it was sweet and harkened back to an older time.
Living in Hawai’i was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I think not working was a part of it, but Kaua’i is also spectacular. The island is a little plop on the ocean, 25 miles long by 33 miles wide. It’s known as the “garden isle” for being the greenest in the chain.
Today at lunch, my coworker Matthew mentioned our mutual coworker Robyn. He thought it was funny to overhear Robyn calling her husband in the middle of the day. According to Matthew, there would be a scattered conversation, an “I love you,” and a goodbye.
Cato learned to eat a poor man’s rations and went barefoot in the heat or rain. Seneca celebrated the beginning of the year by taking icy cold plunges in the roman aqueduct. Marcus Aurelius would remind himself that the people he meets today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly.
My favorite holidays are April Fool’s Day and New Year’s Day. It takes intelligence to be humorous or devise a well-thought-out prank, but it takes grit to improve yourself by setting New Year’s Resolutions. And who doesn’t have something about themselves they would like to improve on? If you aren’t growing, you are dying.
When Roman generals would return home from a successful campaign, they would arrive with the thunderous applause of citizens cheering their victories. Can you imagine the feeling of all the fanfare? Being the center of attention for your heroic exploits? It would be pretty easy to let it all go to your head.
Have you heard the Chinese Proverb about the horses? For years I hadn’t and when I did, fell in love with it. When I mention it, I have found out it is pretty ubiquitous but also many people don’t know it.
Really a lot has happened since my last blog post. But a very quick recap we left the beautiful island of Kaua’i and had many sweet neighbors give us their aloha as we left.