For most of us, life totally changes in September. Summer languor gives way to routine—that simultaneous blessing and curse.
The routine, of course, is occasioned by the plethora of obligations and personal choices that resume (or are newly engaged) every fall. Whether it’s accompanying the kids to their weekly arts, sports or educational activities, volunteer obligations to which we consign ourselves, or social obligations we can’t seem to escape, we find ourselves suddenly controlled by a “schedule.”
One night we’re interacting with one group, the next night another, sometimes strictly the family, rarely alone, sometimes facing pressures of leadership, sometimes merely of attendance, always seemingly running, almost always with people, some we like, some we don’t. It’s people time!
For some of us, this is energizing! For some of us, it is intensely draining!
It all comes down to how we are wired, it seems to me, and that wiring configuration seems to have been dealt to us at birth (keeping in mind that I am not a psychologist or any other kind of “ist” that studies these things scientifically).
The point is, that we need to find a way to keep sane, to balance the extremes with counterparts, so that we don’t overload the circuits. In some ways, summer offers a counterbalance to the routine of the other nine months. But that is a very long cycle. What about the monthly cycle, or the weekly cycle?
For the more introverted, the routine and the intense interaction with people requires deliberate time-outs, probably weekly opportunities simply to be alone, to re-stock for the next “onslaught.”
Those of us energized by people may find all this people time exhilarating! But we may also have the same need as the introverts if our interactions aren’t providing positive energy to our lives. The need simply to be with people does not guarantee that we are being energized by them.
But, curiously, there seems to be a third category emerging, where we are both with people but not really with them at the same time. Are we with the people whom we are texting or those in the crowd we are sitting beside but not interacting with? How does that feed our need to either be with or not with people? Or is that the counter-balance, even the solace, that some of us need?
No doubt, you’ve identified with some of these thoughts. For me, I’m somewhat energized simply by being with people (the being beside kind, not the texting kind). But personal interaction with those people greatly improves that benefit.
Perhaps that’s why I’ve chosen to focus on a “people-helping” business. Perhaps that’s why the most gratifying part of my business is the interaction with clients. Perhaps that’s why I’m trying to break free from too much office confinement.
I look forward to freeing up more time to meet with people as I hire assistants to do more of the office work. I look forward to helping more people transition to home ownership.
Ron Geddert
