BSAPE is about home renovating, but it's written from the perspective of my own experiences saving severely neglected houses; places that have been abandoned, homes that have been overlooked, and properties that others didn't want. As I've shared before, I have the radio on when I'm driving or working alone and there's been plenty said in the last couple weeks about basketball player Jeremy Lin, the point guard for the New York Knicks who was seemingly disregarded for years. Lin has burst onto the scene this month in a way that seems more like an inspirational Disney movie than something that could actually happen in real life.
When people were going nuts about Tim Tebow in the fall, I weighed in because I was enjoying the story, we were talking about it frequently, and I especially loved the fact that TT was proving football experts to be off target (like they predicted his passes would be). Lin is a great story that is being compared to Tebow's due to their humility and religious commonality. But these two stories are about more than sports or spirituality. They're about doing things contradictory to what authorities with experience foresaw with certainty. They're about chasing dreams and persevering through adversity.
When people were going nuts about Tim Tebow in the fall, I weighed in because I was enjoying the story, we were talking about it frequently, and I especially loved the fact that TT was proving football experts to be off target (like they predicted his passes would be). Lin is a great story that is being compared to Tebow's due to their humility and religious commonality. But these two stories are about more than sports or spirituality. They're about doing things contradictory to what authorities with experience foresaw with certainty. They're about chasing dreams and persevering through adversity.
Basketball wise-men consistently passed on Jeremy Lin. He didn't get an athletic scholarship after high school and was not drafted out of Harvard. After a season with the Golden State Warriors, Jeremy got waived in early December by them and was then let-go by another team on Christmas Eve. Ouch! Then he filled out the bottom of the roster in the Big Apple until injuries to multiple teammates resulted in his chance to shine. Now, there are a lot of people in the world of basketball scratching their heads and explaining why they failed to notice the Knickerbocker's newest star.
The properties I've resurrected have been overlooked by plenty of other people; contractors, house-flippers, investors, and other folks who couldn't see past the fire or hurricane damage, the trash and debris, the overbearing intrusiveness of Mother Nature, and/or the other issues. They weren't willing or able to see the potential until after I was finished, then many of them realized that they'd missed a great opportunity, just like those NBA talent scouts and executives are now doing as they watch the dynamic play of Jeremy Lin.
A diamond is a piece of coal under extreme pressure. Hear what the experts say, but don't let them stop you. If you want to take on an abandoned house or do something else people with more experience view with discouragement, throw yourself at it, and don't stop until you've achieved your objective.
a-flippin'-men.
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