The tough get going when the going gets tough

When the economy was booming two years ago, everyone with an extra buck was investing in the future. Real estate was a hot commodity and anyone with a sales pitch was becoming a Realtor.

Power lunches were a daily occurrence, and flashy cars were suddenly on the driveway of every “expert” in the community. Those who attired themselves in shorts and tennis shoes were suddenly seen purchasing high-dollar clothes for seminars given by smooth-talkers selling CDs and books that would spell instant success.

The fact that credit cards were used to create the success stories was reason enough to indicate a boom would eventually lead to a bust. Plastic money and plastic people were leading us to wonder when all of this would end.

In the meantime, banks provided loans with something called “stated income” based on adjustable rate mortgages in what most certainly created a house of cards that has since collapsed. Properties of all price ranges now feature “bank owned” signs while the lenders shut off the utilities and let the properties turn into eyesores.

And with real estate prices soaring, the entire scenario had frightening similarities to pyramid schemes, where investors keep feeding funds into a frenzy that eventually explodes and leaves people feeling ripped off.

With the downturn of the economy, reality has set in and the “experts” have replaced their expensive lunches with TV dinners and watched helplessly as their Mercedes was being repossessed in the middle of the night. Those same people are now taking city buses for visits with their stock brokers, who continue to say that the most recent fall in the market signaled we have all reached the bottom.

The rise was exciting, but the fall was dramatic. Our retirement accounts have been slashed and our faith in government has been damaged after learning that those we trusted weren’t so smart after all.

Even more disturbing is a recent survey conducted by CNN commentator Lou Dobbs stating that almost 70 percent of those polled believe that presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain both lack the expertise needed to lead us out of this mess.

About now, everyone is scared whether you’re someone just trying to survive or you happen to be a wealthy soul with big-time money. It’s so startling that some are comparing this to the Depression, and even the most positive of people is concerned.

However, if there is a secret to handling the current situation, it lies in the philosophy that patience is the greatest secret. In other words, flipping out does no one any good.

Great leaders are those who deal with situations calmly, although it is understandable that some are beginning to panic.

However, if ever there were a necessary ingredient to handling the current situation, it lies with people who make a living selling everything from cars to real estate to insurance and the rest.

The days of order-takers are gone, at least for now. Gone for now are the days when customers walked in the door with checkbooks in-hand.

Order-takers are stunned. They don’t know what to do now.

If you’re a real estate agent, when was the last time you called a current or former customer just to say hello? And if you’re an insurance agent, have you bothered scheduling appointments with clients to make sure they have proper coverage?

My stock broker Tim Bodie of Wachovia Securities calls me each month. More times than not, we talk more about family and friends than we do the market. But he calls and I stop what I’m doing to hear what he has to say.

Like most others, I know absolutely nothing about the stock market, and I need to be informed especially as things change.

It is just good business to stay in touch with clients.

The fact that Bodie received referral business off a simple phone call always remained a good possibility. Just calling to say hello can do so much for all involved.

We are in a shake-down period when the order-takers are moaning the blues while studying what to do with the rest of their lives. The rest of us are not going to give up and we will learn from the negative atmosphere we are now facing.

There is business out there, if only those who work in sales would call former customers or play a role in the community whether it be volunteering in youth activities or feeding the homeless. The theory that you will receive if only you will give is so vitally true.

But ya gotta give first.

Dying is no big deal; it's living that can be tough

Every time I pay my last respects at a funeral, I tend to wonder about the statement that the deceased “is now in a better place.” However, I think I have finally figured why people say that the individual who has died is on to better things.

From someone who has cheated death on several occasions, I remember well having seizures in my continued bout with epilepsy dating back to the time I was about seven years of age.

The epilepsy has been removed from my life thanks to the work of doctors at Scripps Green Hospital, where at the age of 43, right-side temporal lobectomy brain surgery Dec. 6, 1994 not only ended the seizures but probably saved my life at the same time.

One day before the surgery, I would have four seizures. The next day, my doctors that included brain surgeon Dr. Thomas Waltz and neurologist Dr. Andy Aung removed a sizeable chunk of my brain to end a long battle.
With the space I now have on the right side of my head, I joke that I am literally an airhead. An MRI earlier this year showed a significant gap behind my right eye.

However, while I am well now, I often think back about the seizures I experienced for decades. They would strike unexpectedly and in some cases, I would awaken confused, tired and frightened at the experience.

In some cases, epileptic seizures can result in death. However, when an epileptic has a seizure, there generally is no pain considering that the person sometime passes out only to awaken some time later.

My own life could have been ended quickly, although in each case I would recover to face another day. And after thinking about the many years with epilepsy, it finally struck me that dying would not have been a big deal considering the fact that it happened so quickly.

Truth be known, awakening was the hard part knowing that surviving the next day would provide the biggest challenge of all. Facing the reality of one issue after another is actually our greatest test.

Slumping to the ground wasn’t a big deal, although it did create an embarrassment factor that was tough to live with. While recovering from the seizure, there was a level of relief along with an element of mystery knowing this sort of thing could happen anywhere, anytime.

Personally, I am glad I survived my own health issues. However, the fact remains that I have begun to realize that today’s woes ranging from a sagging economy to simply paying bills is not easy.

And on several occasions, I was a candidate to move on to “a better place.” I no longer would have had to worry about the long list of challenges that seem to get even greater as we get older.

I could have been a simple memory, but instead I arose to face another day. Surely, there is a reason.

When Dave Matthews Band saxophonist LeRoi Moore died from complications related to an ATV crash, Matthews told a crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, “It’s always easier to leave than be left.”

I mean, dying would have been a painless step -- no big deal. It’s the surviving part that can be a real drag and I’m starting to realize why many say the Golden Years can make epilepsy-related headaches seem minor.
In an instant, it could have all been over. One more mention in an obituary notice.

However, there was apparently more on the board for me to do before getting to a better place. It wasn’t time to give up yet even though checking out would have been much easier.

And I’ll take the extra time on earth. Besides, I have never been one to give up.

Mike Henle is a Las Vegas-based freelance writer and the author of “Through the Darkness: One Man’s Fight to Overcome Epilepsy.” He can be contacted via email at mhenle@aol.com, or through his web site www.mikehenle.com