I was a “computer” guy for a long time. Now I am a Realtor®. I find that a lot of what I learned as a support tech helps me find people homes. The biggest crossover is that mostly, people want you to listen to them. I meet some very frustrated people just wanting a place to live. No one wants to help renters very much. There isn’t a lot of comission to be made in rentals, but I like the experience I’m gaining and I like to help people solve problems.
In IT, we fix access issues. I help you get to your favorite website or to some application. In Real Estate, I help people get access to affordable housing. Those people who I help find a rental property may never buy a house from me, but they will tell all their friends about the nice man who helped them find a house when no one else could, or would. I get more from them than just some cash, I get a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that I seldom got in my other life.
There is an art to helping people. It is something that I’m not sure you can teach to people. I can learn to be a driven salesperson and sell a bunch of property. I’m just not all that sure I want to lose the part of my soul that would die if I did. Back when I was a religious fanatic, I thought that the people I was around did’t do enough to help other people with their physical needs. We were way too concerned with the spiritual. Now I feel like I’m helping solve people’s basic need for a good place to live. I will never be mistaken for a saint, but I feel like I’m doing one of the things for which I’m wired.
Monday or Tuesday, I played hooky from work for a while and went to one of the Bike Week locations. I just like to see the new bikes and people watch, well for an hour or so and then I’m ready to go home. You see all kinds of people at bike week, dressed all kinds of ways. A lot of, well, well endowed men (at least in bellies) wearing yards of leather. Lots of men (mostly) on loud Harley’s. Lots of sunburned flesh. Don’t those people realize we are in FLORIDA! I’ll bet most are accountants or dentists or attorneys or teachers or insurance salespeople the rest of the year. We all need some sort of way to unwind, else we would just go crazy or crazier.
I still feel guilty when I am not doing “realtor” stuff. That’s a technical term only other Realtors® will understand. I have to get my head back around the concept that if I don’t take care of me, I won’t be able to take care of anyone else. Those who provide services to other people often get so caught up in being “helpful” that we get burned out or worn out or “cared” out. To all who serve, I say: “Take a break once in a while! Have a refreshing beverage, go see a movie, rassle (if you are from the South, that’s how you spell wrestle) an alligator, storm a castle, joust a windmill. Relax and breathe.”
I’m going to take my own advice. See y’all soon, or as we used to say in Miami: Mañana.
The Purposeful Geek 