NYC moves fast. It’s hard to keep up. Endeavors and projects must be accomplished right away otherwise you’re left in the dust. Most everything must be completed in a time crunch, or else somebody else’s going to do it and get the credit for yourjob well done. In this city people compete against the best and brightest, and oftentimes the best and brightest are they, themselves! Competing against oneself is perhaps the ultimate competitive pursuit. 

            Personally, two elective pursuits I’ve been pursuing appear quite dissimilar on the surface, but I’ve found them to be more similar than different in practice. The two counter-intuitively similar pursuits I speak of are a female’s reproductive egg freezing and apartment- hunting/real estate in NYC.

Here’s why they are so alike:

1. Inevitable immediacy required —
   Both conquests necessitate theurgency of the moment. A woman’s body runs on its own clock andwhile ovulation and retrieval can be predicted to a certain degree, anomalies still do exist in the practice of women’s fertility. Certain events and outcomes are inevitable, and often unforeseen -- so to be aware, and in the moment, is a perquisite for healthy and happy living.

   NYC real estate works in a similar manner. The immediacy and hurried-nature of the entire process even surprised my dear old dad one Sunday, when he told me over the phone, “How’s my day, you ask? I was doing all right and then I got another phone call from your [real estate] broker. And of course, he needed a whole packet of documents and signatures right away.” Accustomed to his slow-moving retiree lifestyle in Florida, my dad was so suddenly thrown into the hurried, pressure-filled nature of New York City real estate (and NYC life, frankly) when he had promised to help me qualify for the apartment I wanted.

   Just try freezing eggs, Dad, if you really want to know anything more about defining moments.

2. A person’s feeling while participating in either egg harvesting, or apartment-hunting —

   An individual will inevitably feel a whole host of emotions when participating in either endeavor. They will feel stressed- out, nervous, rushed, on edge, all the while overcome with the fear of missing out. The fear of missing the prime ovulating time is like missing the perfect available apartment. A fear that involves having to wait another month and spending another boatload of money on all the egg- freezing parts and labor, as well as on doctors’ time and expertise is just like the greatest fear of missing the short window on that lovely apartment you’d had your heart set on. The client’s worst fear could possibly arise at this time. Might they have missed the short-lived window on the desired apartment and have to resort to another, less coveted one?

3. Fear of wasting money — In either case, whether you’re freezing eggs or finding an apartment, the overarching fear is the same. Ultimately, one fears wasting their money. To waste time and money is the greatest sin, but so oftentimes time ismoney, so by wasting one, you’ve inevitably lost out on both. 

4. A little belief in a magical power — All in all, you’ve got to be hopeful.Whether you’re arriving at the fertility clinic at 7am to get a predetermined sonogram, or you’re meeting your real estate broker at the umpteenth apartment in your price range, you need to believe that it’s all going to work out. Hold fast to the belief that someone, or something somewhere is pulling for you to see it all work out in the end (So whether that means you’re kind of crazy because you’re now believing in supernatural forces, it doesn’t matter—so be it.) 

Your guardian angel is seeing to it that you are freezing those viable eggs, or being approved for that sought- after apartment. Remember that. 

            A little bit of optimism never hurt anyone.