Rights vs. Responsibilities
So often I hear agents blaming other agents, buyers blaming sellers, sellers blaming buyers, loan officers get blamed by everyone, and so on and so forth. What am I getting at here? I’m afraid that in our society, many people have become more focused on their rights and what they feel they deserve than on their responsibilities.
This isn’t a religious blog, but we had an interesting teaching in our church a few weeks ago that focused on the very popular passage in Colossians 3 (”wives, submit to your husbands, husbands love your wives”). The main point was that often times this passage is used by husbands to justify what their wives should be doing for them, and by wives to point out what their husbands owe to them, missing the main point that this has nothing to do with the other spouse but rather with your own responsibility.
It made me think not only of my relationship with my wife, but also my relationship with my clients. I chose to work at Keller Williams Realty in Gig Harbor because their core values were in line with my own. Regardless of what others expect of me, or what I expect of others, all that I can control is making sure that I do what I said I’d do. As an agent, I make certain promises to my clients, lenders, other agents and their clients, etc. Making sure that I live up to those promises is all that I need to be worried about.
I have the right to have my wife respect me. That will happen if I live up to my responsibility of cherishing her. I have the right to a good night of sleep. That MAY happen if I fulfill my responsibilities to my daughter and meet her needs. I have the right to expect that my clients will be loyal to me. That will happen if I fulfill my responsibilities towards them. I may believe that I have the right to expect that those who enjoy my blog will use my services when it comes time to buy or sell real estate. If I continue to fulfill my responsibility of providing good, accurate, and relevant information that will happen.
I try to watch The Cosby Show as often as possible (there’s no manual for parenthood, and other than The Bible, The Cosby Show is the next best thing I’ve found!) but it’s on from 4-5pm on weekdays so it’s not always possible. I’m amazed, when I can watch, how many of the commercials are from lawyers urging me to know my rights and find somebody to sue for something. I mean, certainly I’ve been wronged somehow, right? Sure would be nice if our legal system focused more on each citizen fulfilling their responsibilities and not so much on capitalizing on our rights.
I’d be curious to hear your thoughts. Too idealistic? Off target? Am I wrong, or am I RIGHT?
