She Believes in Me

Wow, what a lot that I have been thinking about today. The book I bought today by James Frey is a real soul searcher. I love him as an author and despite all of the controversy, he is real. I like real people, no matter what flaws, what experiences, I like to see them come full circle. I always watch American Idol when it gets to the finals. I think I am a country music fan now!! I have always liked some country music but now understand and appreciate it more because it is real.

While Scotty sang the song "She Believed in Me" I was thinking about how that song would be an ultimate tribute if ever dedicated to me. That made me think of the people who have believed in me. So my thoughts jump from one idea to a totally diffferent idea, then I jumped to the company for which I work. They believe in me, and I never knew just what they saw in me. I think many of the buyers for this company have very similiar personalities. I have been blessed to meet so many of them. What I know is, if we lived in the same town we would be very best in person friends and not just email or facebook friends. The characteristic I think that separates the top buyers from others is our honesty. I wish I had a dollar for everytime I said I don't want to be the girl who buys the ring that a month from now you wished you had kept. That is why I always ask before touching one piece of jewelry, "Is there anything here that has sentimental value to you?". If the answer is yes, we take that out and see what we have left. I say I will be here a year from now if you change your mind, but I do not feel good about buying this from you at this time. So many of the people who call me start out by saying my friend said you would be honest with me and tell me what you would do if this was yours. That is the reason I will probably never be a millionaire if it means I have to take unfair advantage of another person. I'm not saying that all wealthy people are unfair, I'm just saying that in the businessnes in which I have been involved, I could have made more money by being less sensitive.

That brings me to the mantra that I say every night while washing my face and staring at myself in the mirror, "Can you live with everything you have done today?". If the answer is no, I write it down and make it right first thing in the morning. It's that simple.

I hope you dance, and sing, and buy tons of gold, my dear Golden Girlfriends,

Michelle Perkins
Golden Girl

My Magnet and My Gut

Sleep doesn't come easy for me and I usually lie awake at night and make different comparisons. One night after many emails from corporate, I was thinking how vitally important my magnet is. It is the first test when I am holding a piece of jewelry. Of course, I have made quite a few deductions from just holding the jewelry. Out comes the magnet (much like an inner radar in life). If the jewelry sticks to the magnet or has the slightest of pull, it is not gold. No pull detected. Moving along to the next step of the process (didn't get any bad vibes, but still can't make the call).

Next I start looking at stamps. Sometimes there are no visible stamps which makes me start asking questions. It has to have some kind of stamp. We can't all get through life without any obvious stamps. Oh well, I'll just slide that between my 10k and 14k piles and see what happens. Time for the acid test. We have made it this far so let's see how you hold up in acid. The pieces that haven't sent up any red flags make it through with flying colors (red, yellow or hopefully a green - this bit is for my fellow Golden Girls - my how we get excited when that 18k stamped piece actually lights with that 18k green!).

I've let that questionable piece of jewelry hang around this long so I may as well stick it in some acid and see what happens. Well a light came on and started popping back and forth. I knew something didn't feel quite right. Let's test a little deeper, gosh I really want this to be gold. Out comes the file which can make the moment a little uneasy but it is something you have to do. You are going to essentially destroy the piece of jewelry and then find out you can't even buy it. Put that information on the table. This could get ugly. You file or even cut if necessary then back in the acid. The tension has been building. There it is "not gold".

Once in a while something may get past the magnet but you felt all along it just wasn't gold. You didn't give up on it right away, but after chipping away, eventually you can determine what is real.

Trust your gut, it can make decisions that your heart (or your magnet) may not be capable of making.

Michelle Perkins
Golden Girl
252 531-0515