I struggle with fear.
Fear of the unknown.
Fear of not making my sales numbers at work, and then what will happen?
What will happen if I lose my job?
The economy is weak and people are not beating furniture showroom doors down to buy design services and furniture.
Yesterday I was on an emotional roller-coaster.
I had meetings with two clients who bought nothing. One of them was an antique dealer and everything I showed him he thought was 'poop'. And well, yes, compared to furniture from 150 years ago it is.
But he and his wife still had taste in their rectums.....and I mean that in the nicest way.
You would have to live here to 'get ' what I am talking about. Boca Raton is a very tough environment.
Possibly the most difficult customers in our country. All they care about is their ADDRESS $$$, and their cars $$$, and their jewelry, their hand bags, and how little they can spend to give the impression that they are millionaires or billionaires.
....and still nothing was cheap enough.
I was showing him 2 Sherill Sofa's that were all upholstered beautifully. They were coordinated to go with his oriental carpet. The floor plan and everything was great.
He liked all of it. He just refused to pay for it.
CHINA, and( it rhymes with) 'Rooms To Blow' have ruined us. People WITH money don't seem to care
anymore about fine quality. Forget 'fine' quality, they don't even want to pay for good quality.
As far as I am concerned, the furniture from some of these cheapo furniture places is worse than what we used to put in model homes. It wasn't furniture, it was just fashion to explain the space in a home.
If you were unlucky enough to buy the model home with all the furniture in it, and were unlucky enough to get the furniture WET.....IT WOULD EXPAND TO TWICE IT'S NORMAL SIZE.
In just 2 hours I have to show up for work and try to talk to strangers and sell myself. I am feeling beaten up from yesterday.
Today will take some work on my FAITH.
Will things be better today??? (oh please, please,please)
Fear puts hopelessness in my heart.
I must remember that
"Fear imprisons, faith liberates; fear paralyzes, faith empowers;
fear disheartens, faith encourages"
I love you guys.
xx's RF
credits:
prozaciswack.blogspot.com
www.ccel.org
Renee Finberg 'TELLS ALL' in her BLOG.....
Interior Design, Palm Beach, Boca Raton,Design Sources, Window Treatments, Custom Design, Paint, Color Coordination, Online Interior Design, Floor Plans, All Custom, Faith
This place sounds like a No-Exit type of hell. Is it time to move to a different city? When faced with my own personal trials, I went to the garden where I make peace with a 10-lb sledge hammer and piles of stones. I have built stone walls out of my anger and sorrow. People with no soul scare the holy hell out of me. You cannot change them. You just have to move out of their way. Go home tonight and paint something that makes your heart happy.
ReplyDeletehome before dark
ReplyDeletei love you
thank you
xx
*i have been trying to get out of here for years
Renee, you are not alone with your frustrations...Even here in New York where I enjoyed wonderful intersting customers....the trial of Wall Street debacles, loss of jobs,loss of money and fear has dramatically changed people's attitudes and not for the best. I have never in all my 20 working years, experienced as much fear and stress as I am to day. I am actually taking homeopatic stress relievers to help me cope....just a suggestion for you to look into. I also just spent 2 weeks with my mom in a cancer clinic and seen days in days out horrific cases affecting young adults. I feel that as long as we have our health, our mind, our family , friends and our heart, we can cope with things thrown our way
ReplyDeletei always knew RICH people are CHEAP!!! thats how they got rich to begin with.
ReplyDeleteWow RENEE, i'm sorry to hear you are going through this right now, the way i see it its off your hands, you do what you can, in the mean time is there anything else out there you can do??it feels like you go to work everyday with that pit in you stomach
and thats not good my friend..
its moving an option?but i guess everywhere is like that..
i wish there was something i could do, all i know is that is pretty sad out there for everyone except for the RICH...look what Francine wrote it could be worse, she is so right...hang in there, i'll be thinking of you and hoping that time will fly by so you can be home real soon...
XX.Silvia..
p/s funny that i say is moving an option? AND here is me stock in THIS stupid little town THAT HATE SOOOO MUCH.lol.
oh and about that guy with the young chick, hes got no idea whats coming hes way,she will taking him to the cleaners.((MEN)) they are all idiots!!.....ja,ja!!.
ReplyDeletei hope i made you laugh just a little;-)).
xx.sILVIA.
And all this time I thought you've found your slice of paradise (location wise). Every single day challenges me to try to generate the feelings that I want to experience..., and not to get sucked into fear, powerlessness and despair. You're a great writer..., what about "professional blogging"..., there are some people who make real good money doing that! And I hope that one day I'm one of them! All I need is 10 times as many readers as I have now (at Completely Coastal)!! How am I going to do that? No idea, frankly, but I believe it's possible.
ReplyDeleteYou're in a hard industry, hard location, in a hard economy. I wish you well, my friend.
ReplyDeleteOh Renee, poor you...but, I guess we must all count our blessings...at least you have a job !!!!....and, as Francine says, our health.That has to bring us all down to earth.
ReplyDeleteOn a lighter note....how are Lunatic and Medusa doing in the current economic climate...are they selling well ?
Keep positive, my friend and chin up. XXXX
Renee, You are beautiful,talented
ReplyDeleteand very emotional. Time changes everything. Today you can lose your
job, tonite hit the lotto. It's all
in God's plan. You have a good head so use it.
Thank God you are in good health.
You have a beautiful child and a mother that loves you. That's more than I have. Keep your head up
Lot's of people love you. Mamma
I have to tell you they're not just cheap in Boca...it's everywhere. I hate that China s--t too! I hate everything about China well except for the people. Unfortunately there is always going to be cheap crap out there. It's your job to get them to realize it's junk!
ReplyDeleteGood Luck!
Hey Renee, this is your Down Under Fan Club here. We know that you will go into work with your head high & a spring in your step because you just never know what opportunity may come swinging through those doors any minute.
ReplyDeleteFrom #1 fan Millie ^_^
P.S. You could try the environmental thing with some of your reticent clients. That cheap rubbish from O/S is packed full of volatile foam, soaked in unmentionable chemicals that would explode like the A bomb the second a naked flame got within 200 metres of them. The locally produced product is manufactured under far more stringent controls. Oh, well just a thought.
Loved this one, it is the unknown that drives us. When things are going right in my world, it is the bump in the road that I need sometimes to get me back to where I need to be. Yes, it would be ideal for everything to be straightforward all the time, but I have to say, it is these moments of craziness that make me a better person & more creative than if I were going through the motions.
ReplyDeleteI wish you the best,
Leslie
I feel for you, Renee! You are in my thoughts and prayers. Those clients sound dreadful! xo
ReplyDeleteHi Renee, I'm late as usual.... but actually getting to do what I love right now (verses what I was doing about 4 years ago in the design business)which is riding my horses every day....sometimes the very fears and challenges we face are the stepping stones to higher places. (I was terrified to ride after 30 years of not owning a horse). Totally disgusted by clients and the emphasis/importance being put on their "stuff" (which I was only attributing to with my services) I had to take a personal life inventory....especially during a two year period my mother-in-law was fighting for her life with stage 4 cancer (and lost). I had had my fill of pretentious people who only cared about what my shop didn't have available to satisfy their "whim of the day"! I swear they would look to see what you didn't have and then ask for it! Life is too short to not enjoy every day to the fullest! You're right if you feed your faith, fear has to go... there's no room for both! I don't make much money doing this but my level of joy doing what I love is so much more rewarding. My only suggestion is finding your greatest passion AND usually you'll be faced with a huge fear associated with it....then go for GOLD! Don't look back. Thanks you for your kind words about my photos...photography is another passion I have and wish I got paid for! LOL! Empathizing with you this week! Take care of yourself! Luanne
ReplyDeleteSweet Friend,
ReplyDeleteHave FAITH, trust in God and He will take care of you!
I feel your pain, I started with a new client and have no idea really why she wants me to design for her. No matter what I do, it isn't right, she has money but I think Pottery Barn is all she really wants. Don't need me for that.
Hang in there...YOU are the BESTEST.
xoxo
lulo,
ReplyDeleteyou know, i too would rather be riding my horse all day, mucking stalls, feeding , and giving riding lessons, getting horsie kisses, etc etc
the joy goes on forever.
i really wish i could.
xx love you
What an amazing topic-fear! I could go on and on about my thoughts on the topic. I'd have to save that for an email though! All this to say, you are never alone! You have cyber buddies all around that think the world of you! You can do it!
ReplyDelete