Are You Wasting Your Dash? Gratitude and Contentment in Real Estate
Every year, Thanksgiving gives us a permission slip we rarely take the other 364 days:
to slow down, breathe a little deeper, and remember what really matters.
But if we’re honest, real estate doesn’t pause just because the calendar says it should. Deals still swirl in our heads. Clients still text. Comparison still creeps in through Instagram. And hustle culture still whispers, “You should be doing more…”
That’s why this conversation matters — because it’s exactly in the noise that God invites us back to the dash.
The Dash That Represents Your One Life
In The Balanced Breakthrough, you talk about the dash on a headstone — the tiny line between the year you're born and the year you die.
A whole life measured in one thin stroke.
And the question you challenge us with is the same one you faced during your anxiety attack earlier this year:
“How am I actually spending my dash?”
Am I spending it scrolling Zillow while my kids sit right next to me?
Am I spending it in constant urgency?
Am I spending it chasing things “too great and too marvelous for me”?
Or am I spending it present… grateful… surrendered… at peace?
Thanksgiving forces the question.
But a life anchored in Christ answers it differently.
When David Found Peace in a Cave
Psalm 131 became a lifeline for you — written by David while hiding in a cave, hunted by Saul.
Not at a beach.
Not after getting a big commission check.
Not during an easy season.
Yet he writes:
“I do not concern myself with things too great or too marvelous for me…
I have calmed and quieted my soul.”
David models something we deeply need:
a posture of quiet trust when circumstances scream for anxiety.
As agents, our version of “being chased by Saul” looks like:
a slow market
unpredictable income
pressure to prove ourselves
the noise of comparison
the internal push for bigger, bigger, bigger
David reminds us:
peace isn’t found when life settles down — it’s found when we settle down before God.
Give Thanks in All Circumstances
1 Thessalonians 5:18 commands something that feels impossible:
“Give thanks in all circumstances…”
Not after circumstances improve.
Not when circumstances align with your plans.
But in them.
And here’s the encouragement:
If God commands gratitude in every season,
then every season contains something worth being grateful for.
Even this one.
Even the hard one.
Even the confusing one.
Even the one that didn’t turn out the way you prayed it would.
We Are the Israelites More Than We Want to Admit
It’s easy to laugh at the Israelites complaining in the wilderness while God literally rains food from heaven…
But then we do the same thing.
He provides.
He protects.
He proves Himself faithful again and again.
And still we whisper,
“Yeah, but what have You done for me lately?”
Thanksgiving is our annual reminder to say,
“Lord, Your provision is enough — help my heart believe that.”
When Your Soul Is Loud, Look Only at Him
You shared a powerful image from War of the Worlds — Tom Cruise carrying his terrified daughter out of chaos, saying:
“Look only at me.”
It’s the perfect picture of Jesus in seasons of fear, stress, distraction, and ambition.
Your year may have felt like a plane crashed in the front yard.
But His invitation remains the same:
“Look only at Me. I will get you where you need to go.”
Three Thanksgiving Questions That Change the Way You Live Your Dash
As you slow down today — or as you try to — sit with these:
1. What can I thank God for in this exact season?
Name it out loud.
Write it down.
Let gratitude interrupt your thoughts.
2. Who has God entrusted to me — and am I present with them?
Your dash is not just years.
It’s moments.
3. What pressure, distraction, or hustle has stolen my peace?
And what would it look like to release it today?
A Different Kind of Real Estate Professional
You closed this episode with a powerful prayer — a call for us to look different from the world around us:
Not frantic.
Not comparing.
Not chasing.
Not restless.
But marked by gratitude.
Marked by contentment.
Marked by quiet confidence in God’s provision.
What a witness that would be in an industry obsessed with more, more, more.
Final Word
Faithful Agent, if you're reading this — hear this clearly:
You can win at work without losing at life.
You can build a business without sacrificing your family.
You can be excellent without being exhausted.
And you can live your dash on purpose — today.
Happy Thanksgiving.
You are loved, prayed for, and truly appreciated.
The Faithful Agent E-Book: The Faithful Agent E-Book equips Christian real estate agents to build businesses that honor God, serve others, and protect what matters most—your family and your faith. Packed with practical strategies and biblical insight, it’s your guide to succeeding in real estate without losing yourself in the process.