Flat No. 2601

In this so called busy day and age that we have created for ourselves, our strength of faith weakens with every day. We are part of this daily rat race that runs like a perfect routine with minimal time for spiritual revival.

We turn back to our faiths only in times of distress and otherwise it is just somewhere in our sub-conscious minds that we are religious. I read a nice quote a few days back which underlines this reality,

"Don't make God your last resort, make Him your first option"

We only turn to God as last resort. So, how to keep this faith refreshed at all times. How can we keep God as part of our routine lives? I think that's where regular prayers come in. Make an effort to make those few minutes of your time every day to sit and talk to God Who by the way loves you 70 times more than your mother.

Anyway, the above is what went through my head a few Fridays back where we had a close call and a miracle saved us.

We had found a nice mosque where they give English lectures before the Friday prayer. We were returning from this inspired session where we saw a lady accept Islam as well. Close to our house, I reversed my car almost into a deep hole. I don't know where my mind was but with my family i.e. Wife and 2 daughters in the car, I backed into a spot where the car was half over the edge of a construction site and the other half on the ground.

Obviously, we were shell-shocked. One wrong move of balance and the car would fall down into the deep hole definitely bringing some potential injuries to us and damage to the car.

In this situation, where deep down there was prayer going on for help, the other hand was moving towards dialing the "Tow" support. This would easily take an hour to come in to help.

Out of nowhere a Toyota Hilux pickup stopped near us. There was a Filipino guy in it, who took a look at the situation and immediately realized, he needed to help us. First thing with my car pulled in the handbrake and my foot hard on the brakes, he knew I was stuck. He quickly realized the kids need to come out first. So he took my daughter still in the car seat and my elder daughter out and made them sit in his car.

This left me and my wife with a breather that at least the kids are safe. Next came the thoughts of, what next. The guy came and asked if I had a rope. I obviously don't plan for these things hence did not have rope. So he called a friend and confirmed that he had some rope. The friend lived in the same building as ours so it wasn't too far. Very soon, another Filipino guy came in with the rope. They tied the rope to my car and their car and pulled us out of this "edgy" situation.

Pale faced, we couldn't thank the person enough and he was as modest as it gets. Just going on with business, the kids back in my car and wanted to move on with what he was doing. I asked him, where he lived so we could send over a thank you cake or something. He said Flat 2601. We said our farewell and drove back to park my car.

The ungrateful piece of human flesh we are, we forgot about these God sent saviors. Only after a few weeks, when the topic came up again, we remembered that we should send that thank you cake. I was in the lift and that's when I realized that our building does not have a 26th floor. The buttons only went up to 25. So without a 26th floor there couldn't be a Flat No. 2601. This left me in shock. What? No 26th Floor? Where did they come from?

I had to confirm with my wife that it was indeed 2601 that the Filipinos had said and after sharing my finding with her, we were both amazed. It was really a miracle and an answer to our prayers at the time when we were really in distress.

We still think about it and haven't really got over the fact that there is no 26th floor in our building. I think about it every time I get on our lift. It was a day of a miracle. I am sure lots of such miracles keep happening around us and we don't even realize with our minds taking it all for granted.

The sad part is, it didn't take too long for me to get back to the routine of life and forget about the miracle that had occurred. That's how ungrateful we are. We keep expecting some sign to keep our belief alive and it's just so pathetic. There are enough signs around but we don't see it. Look at the moon, the stars, the sun. How everything works like clockwork and to what precision. How the human body is a world in its own, all working on it's own. We just don't want to accept The Greatness and want a personalized sign of our own to believe.

Even if that sign comes, either we miss it or even if realize, we get over it so quickly then expecting some other sign. How pathetic is that?

Build vs Buy

In the world of real estate investments there is a decision making point that many investors go through. Should I build or should I buy. There is that other topic also of leasing vs buying but I will be focusing on the former one in this write-up.

So what is the thought process behind this. Building would require finding some land, which has potential value. 3 points... Location, Location, Location. The eye for seeing the future. In this piece of land, that I would buy, what would be around it. Infrastructure development. Tourism. Amenities availability. How far away or how much in the city? You find the spot and then you build on it. Put the values in the equation, re-value your money invested today and the cost of money going into the future when the "build" would complete. Keep this number with you.

Now move to the buy option. This is where you have a pre-built thing which you choose. How is it priced? Is it worth what they are asking for? How much renovation or modification would I need to do? Are there are any loans on it? Is the building used as leverage for some loan? Try to value all of that and match this number with the earlier "build" number.

Decision time. Now choose.

While it may be seem quick straight-forward, I can assure you its not. This particular equation is what many people today make their big buck or simply earn their livelihood around.

But my debate today is what if the values are exactly the same. Build vs buy is equal. What to do now?

This is where I present to you my quote of the day.

"Some things are better built than bought"

Example - Relationships.

After boring you with the theory above, I would like to apply the concept to life or to be more precise, relationships. No matter how much you spend on a relationship, you can't make it work. You can't buy love, you can't buy sincerity, dependence, care. Somethings just can't be bought.

One important element that I didn't mention in the theory above was how building is so much more fulfilling than buying. You go through the process of putting the pieces together. Brick by Brick, see a plan come together. You learn about people. You learn about yourself. You cherish the whole experience much much more. Its definitely more fulfilling to build something than just going and picking it off the shelf.

So building a relationship is something like that as well. Take a husband-wife relationship as a really good example. Two individuals relatively unknown to each other come together to form a team. Learn about each other's strengths. Learn about each other's weaknesses. Where would they contribute to make each other stronger. It's this bond that keeps building as they keep supporting each other and building this bridge between 2 families. Then come the kids. Test of patience. Test of sharing the love. That's when they realize, the more they share, the more it multiplies.

The bond keeps going stronger. They live their lives together for each other and then become inseparable. Nothing can change this until death do them apart. How is that possible? How can a bond be so strong that only when they can't breathe do they become separate from each other? These things can only be built.

Try that by buying a relationship. You know what I mean. Marrying for money over love. Doesn't last long, at least there wouldn't be any happily ever after phrases in that relationship. Its fun for a while, but then its either no relationship or just a compromise.

No matter what the build vs buy equation tilts towards, some things are better built than being bought. Make a note. Apply. Prosper.