Ancient Attachments

I wanted to share this with you before I forget, but also as an effort to continue to provide reason to consider your own path. As a parent I will ever endeavor to make ready my help in that effort. It's what parents become, as the years march by, we share indiscriminately; even when we miss the mark.   On this occasion I wanted to share with you the tragic feeling of loss when a value is proven invalid.

  When I was young, it was commonly believed that buying a house was your best bet for a retirement nest egg. So, time was spent on repairing and improving the investment so it would gain in value over the years; along with a sense of pride obtained in cultivating a small-albeit-nothing to brag about, fortune for your golden years.

  All of that has changed...as most things do. I had to admit that the value of my property is less than the remaining mortgage...like by a third. Meaning, the present market will never correct to the point where the note would be retired and there would be a residual from my thirty years of faithful payments left over to provide for those 'golden years'.

  Now I could go on a rant and whine about those blood sucking banks and all of that, but as you know, even if you've seen exceptions, in the case of changed economy, that turd can't be shined.

  So we're pursuing a short sale. And that meets with reason when escape is the primary goal; where release means leaving ancient attachments behind.

  But the lesson I wanted to convey is be vigilant for similar times when your own values wane. Yes, they are subjective and selected by you, and you alone, (even when they are handed down to you...or even hammered into you so that they appear to be worthwhile to continue.) Be aware of the feeling of disillusionment when they fail to deliver a promise.  Know that it will be a feeling of grief.....it is a loss of a strongly held belief, but it's a fantasy away from real.

So the gift of disillusionment is return to the actual.

I didn't like admitting that I was clinging to a wishful way of thinking that somehow the market would rise back up and my golden egg would return.

  Never mind all of the particulars....I wanted to share the feeling of meeting my illusion and the...discomfort that came with it. I'm sure you have your stories to tell as well....but it never hurts to be reminded we're forever spinning fairytales.

It's what we do.

It's all that we do....

Oh wait...that's the terminator.