Summer has an energy about it that I have always been drawn to. School is out, people are on extended vacations, and our daily rhythms change providing an opportunity to pause and breathe into the space created by longer days. During the years when I went home to Sri Lanka during the summer with both my girls in tow, I was able to truly marinate in summer’s languid rhythm. Now that I have changed my visits to December, I find that I must remind myself that I still have permission to embrace a slower pace even while in America.
My work has seasonal cadences and while I have now experienced almost a decade of this seasonality in real estate, I still panic when the market slows down. My husband can probably set his watch to when I look at him with wide-eyes and ask very honestly whether he believes I will ever sell another house! Thank goodness he is the most patient man I’ve met.
Rather than get wrapped up in my own “monkey mind”, I will myself to go into the office and work ON my business rather than IN my business. I attend to tasks I have pushed aside because, well, I just don’t like doing them when I am busy with clients. This year is different though. With 50% more inventory across the Denver Metro market year over year, interest rates that continue to be higher than what we’ve seen in the last 5 years, and discerning buyers who are taking their time with their home search, there is little I can honestly DO to create more business. That is hard to swallow because my instinct is to DO MORE in response to a lull in the market. If I am being honest, this is true in my personal life as well – I spring into action in response to dissonance and discomfort.
As we approach the 4th of July weekend market velocity slows down even further. This year, I am committing to change my reaction to what is simply market reality. If I find my heart racing and fear set in, I plan to practice flowing with the moment rather than fighting it. Just like the element of water, I will remind myself that there is quiet power that gathers as a river flows, or a wave breaks on the shore. I will breathe in the mountain air and linger longer in moments of play that only summer can provide! What do you do in similar moments?
