Serve Yourself

One of the best things about pre-pandemic life for me was service. It gave me a sense of purpose, accomplishment and social interaction. Often it correlated only loosely to my day-job and other times it was just a positive continuation of real estate related activity, but almost always more meaningful. Because I work alone in terms of my day-to-day pursuit of clients and customers, I enjoy the team approach of committees and the sharing of ideas with a group united toward a common goal.



In hindsight I see that I learned much more than I ever bargained for about the differences between not-for-profit and for-profit entities, community and human services, and even about the basic habits of showing up and getting busy. I also learned about how much the long-established institutions and the basic human services that we all count on to be there, without thinking about them, rely on those who show up to participate and give of themselves.

Now as we begin to emerge from the pandemic with the optimism of a bear who had the foresight to hibernate with a stash of snacks, we are just starting to see the shift of priorities in people and institutions about how they spend and give of their time. A reevaluation has started, and it is not over.

I see it at my Rotary where our club of over 200 people is seeing attendance at an unheard of 25 percent. People got out of the habit of showing up to our weekly meetings come snow or sleet or any of the other similar postal worker slogans that also don’t seem to apply any longer. At Toys-For-Tots many of the most stalwart volunteers are getting older, are tired and are just going to move somewhere warm and take a little more time for themselves and be with their own families at the holidays. People who spent lifetimes in professional careers that demanded almost every fiber of their attention and time have reevaluated and announced retirements. It is time to take stock and put our attention and our time to what is truly important.

People in droves have decided to literally sing “take this job and shove it” and they have gone back to school, changed jobs, chosen new careers and dramatically altered their life plans. Real estate is looking particularly alluring to those seeking a change, and let’s be honest . . . who can blame them? It is amazing. It is the very best of all of the things that those of us who are driven to change the world seek every day. I still maintain that service is the key to success, and through LCAR we have a way to come together to make ourselves and our Association stronger and more cohesive.

I got my LCAR committee sign-up form, and I actually wished I was able to check off more committees than I have time to do with actually having to work a real job. I have found the varied and assorted task forces, panels, planning retreats and boards over the years to be some of the best ways to spend my time . . . time spent with some really interesting, insightful and giving individuals. One of the very best ways that you can expand yourself and your affiliations as a Realtor, Associate Broker or Designated Broker is to be active and serve at our own Association and be focused on what we all care about most. I look forward to emerging from this thing stronger, more focused and yes, a little hungry. In reevaluating what I enjoy, what I believe in and what I feel is important to creating a future that I want to live in, I plan to spend my time doing what I love. No one ever said that in service you don’t personally benefit . . . in the very best ways of giving, you always do.

Althea Ramsay Carrigan, Burle Corporate Park

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