"I'm Great!"

This morning Rick and I grabbed a quick cup of coffee at Starbucks, lucky me. Have you ever sat at a small table, across from someone ‘jazzy’, someone who just couldn’t contain their excitement for life? That was Rick, today.

Rick is a commercial Realtor, and if you’ve read the news about commercial real estate in 2011, you know the industry is suffering perhaps it’s bleakest hour in fifty years.

But when I asked, “How are YOU, Rick?”, he smiled and said, “I’m great! I’m at the front end of several projects that are going to work out quite well; I’m great!”

One of Rick’s projects is the funding, development and opening of the Lone Tree Arts Center. This is not a business deal for Rick, it’s a personal, civic endeavor. He has tremendous passion for the project and it shows. The new LTAC, which opened in August under Rick’s volunteer leadership, boasts a 500-seat auditorium and big plans for an artistically rich future.

So he might not have a real estate deal in the works; he might not have clients to meet today or tomorrow or next week. But Rick has a passion for people, he has a passion for his community, and he has a personal philosophy that dictates he will give the best of himself today.

As I sipped my coffee and listened to Rick, I couldn’t help but capture his joie de vivre; it’s contagious. There’s something spectacular about people who work hard and have a positive outlook on life, not in the best of times, but in the challenging times. Rick is someone I aspire to emulate, so it was a very good start to the day.