by OldGuy » 26 Dec 2024, 04:48
It's kinda hard to explain. Back a few years ago, I found myself pushed into early retirement. I was bored to death and falling into a very deep depression - almost suicidal level. One day, I asked the landlord if I could do some yardwork around the apartment complex just for something to do and he told me to knock myself out.
Well, I discovered I really enjoyed doing the yardwork and it brightened my days. He stopped by a month or so after I started and was startled at the improvements. He immediately offered me a discount on my monthly rent to keep it up. A few weeks later, he stopped and asked me to take a look at another apartment complex to see what I could do there. Again, he was very happy with the results and I got a bigger discount on my monthly rent. And then there was another, and another and even more until I was doing all the yardwork for 18 of his properties. There was no way I could do more than that. My days were full even including weekends.
I was having a blast and really enjoyed making each place a nice place to come home to for each of the tenants. It was always a big plus when they went out of their way to thank me for the improvements. It was an extra shot of joy when nearby neighbors stopped by to thank me for cleaning up the neighborhood. Best part was I found myself extra happy each day as I headed out to work. I found myself as excited as a little kid waiting for Christmas morning. I could hardly wait to get going. My depression had vanished. Lost a lot of weight and even my diabetes vanished with all the extra exercise.
Going on ten years now. I wake up still excited almost daily and only get bummed out when the weather won't let me get to work. Who needs a vacation when you're having this much fun?
