Always Give the Benefit of the Doubt!

Pretty annoyed as I was walking out of my house, running to a listing appointment and the heel of my shoe went through my brand new chiffon skirt. I mean a huge hole right through the bottom. The positive is that I almost went ass over tea kettle down the stairs and that could have ended up very badly, but I didn’t. I had about 2 seconds to growl and then sigh and move on.

So, as I watched my father-in-law miraculously sew the dress later that day I realized you have to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. When MG and his mother said “give the dress to him (father-in-law), he’ll sew it up for you” my jaw dropped. I thought about it and hesitantly handed over my lovely skirt. Then, he proceeded to match up some string to match the dress color and away he went. Sewing and sewing and voila! hole be gone. Amazing! I doubted him. He’s not a homemaker. He was a school teacher. Worked his butt off at work everyday (now retired), but he doesn’t cook, clean, do laundry. All the things we typically think the mom does (I know it’s 2011, many men do these things–MG certainly does). But, sewing? Guess what–he did a fantastic job and you could never tell there was a hole. He did better than a seamstress would’ve done or at least as good. When done–he handed it to me and said that he could’ve done much better, but the type of material made it very difficult. Trust me, he did a great job. And I doubted him? Shame on me, never again.

Anyway, this gives me thought. There are many times in my every day life that I doubt people or situations. Sometimes I’m right and sometimes I’m wrong. In my business, real estate, you have to take everyone seriously. I have been proven very wrong in some situations. For instance, a young couple that just moved out of their parents home and looking at a $500,000 1st home. Well, I didn’t think this was possible, got them to check w/ a mortgage broker and they had plenty for this home. They since have become phenomenal clients buying/selling a few w/ us as investment properties and referring us to many of their friends. Luckily, we didn’t doubt them, maybe I did in my mind, but we took them seriously from the beginning and it worked out.

I even doubted myself the other day. MG and I went for a run by the lake and it was pretty hot. I told him after 3.5 miles that I was too tired to keep going. He knows me well enough that he knew I had a bit more left in the tank. He reminded me that if I didn’t finish the alloted 5 miles I would be disappointed in myself. So true. I would’ve stopped, had more left to give and felt a bit slack for quitting. Thank goodness he gave me the benefit of the doubt that I could give more b/c we finished the full 5 miles in one of our better times and I felt so good after for completing it.

On the other hand, there are times where I think someone will do what they say and they don’t. In these situations I do give them the benefit of the doubt and end up a bit disappointed. For instance, I’m told that they will take care of themselves (exercise, diet) and they don’t and probably never intended to. What can you do? At least you didn’t doubt them, they failed on their own account.

In the end, it is always better to give the benefit of the doubt. You never know who or what may surprise you. If it doesn’t work out, at least you know it wasn’t b/c of you. Some people just don’t have it in them.

“Make It A Great Day–Go Inspire!”