Reflections of 2013 ~ Can I Handle the Seasons of My Life?
“Time makes you older, children get older, I'm getting older too… Can I handle the seasons of my life…. ” Stevie Nicks might have written these words in contemplating her choice to make song writing her life however, the words to this song are quite poignant.
Enjoy the song and Stevie's beautiful voice and person as you read my reflections of 2013 ~
Joy and sadness seem to appear on the scene close together. The span of rising up with emotion to the heights of euphoria watching Tristan emerge as undoubtedly the best pitcher in his age and the best short stop in Palm Beach County, most likely also the state of Florida and surely in the top 10 in the country, to the lows of two fathers passing and a dear friend all within months of each other bringing us to diverging underneath a bedrock of grief.
Where does our life take us? While much of life is based on our own choices and the paths we choose to take we are met up with processes in life wherein we seem to not have a choice. After all, I did not wish for my father to die the day he died, Nestor did not ask for his father to die the time he did and Mary's two small sons did not every choose that their mother would die on Christmas Eve.
Yes, we get older and so do our children. Mortality has a way of showing up.
While flashing back through 2013 ~ it was a great year in many respects ~ such is the ying and the yang in life. You would never know success if you never experienced failure. You would never know joy without every feeling sorrow. You would not revere life if we could deceive death.
Tristan is amazing. He is such a great son. We are so honored to have him in our family. All the adult children are working and being responsible. Joshua went to China this year. He is our second oldest son and is a Chef for the Fairmont Hotels. He was offered a very good Chef position in Shanghai for the Fairmont and then just a couple months later they asked him to go to Nanjing to start a new restaurant for the Fairmont. Kaleb is our third oldest son and he is the Chef at Kon Tiki in Wellington.
The grandchildren are all doing great. They are all happy, safe, learning and growing.
Our real estate brokerage – International Properities and Investments LLC had a great year. We hired two agents, one in Wellington and one in Fort Lauderdale. We expanded delegating more tasks to our virtual assistant team. We shifted some goals around and worked on purpose. Listings is still the forefront of priorities for Nestor and we continue to work more on our business instead of in our business.
Coaching and consulting grew during 2013 and I was afforded opportunities to speak at events to brokers who own their real estate brokerages which has really helped to grow the income of our coaching company. I developed a new course called, Listing Experts Academy and I am so excited about the success and the value of this program already. The company increased in revenue by another 20%. I found out recently in one of my entrepreneur masterminds that I participate in that if your company grows by 20% a year for 5 years in a row you are considered a “gazelle” company. 2 more years to go:) to see if I earn that status for our company.
We are continuing to develop new products and support systems for REALTORS®. But life is not all about real estate and we have a lot of interests and experience at our ages wherein we can touch lives, empower others to follow their dreams, help people live happy lives and more. We are expanding the companies, hiring and training and moving forward.
So can I handle the seasons of my life? I believe I can with the help of my Heavenly Father, Nestor and our family.