If Timing Is Everything, I've Got Nothin'

I’ve heard that approximately 60 percent of new small businesses close their doors within the first 12 months. Just like the divorce rate in America, this tells us that things don’t go the way we plan them more than they do. On the same note, hundreds of people move to New York on a daily basis, with many of these people not making it past the 12-month mark. Many make the first move to the big city, find the financial and/or emotional hardship too much to handle, and move back to their respective hometowns with proclaimed traces of hope that they will, in fact, return to take a second crack at it after they gain more life experience, professional credentials, & financial stability. But there’s a cruel reality of which these people are obviously in denial.

There’s never an easy time to move to New York. That is unless of course you’re a trust fund baby or privy to the money that grows on trees that my parents used to reference on a habitual basis. The ones that leave probably didn’t deserve to be here in the first place, or maybe it can all be attributed to bad timing. It takes a special person to live in a city that both embraces you for the person you are and also doesn’t want you to be here. It’s the Big Apple’s own form of subliminal population control.

I’m a huge believer in the power of luck and timing. Timing can mean the difference between you grabbing that great apartment that’s within your budget and being backed into the corner of a horrible roommate situation in a fifth floor walk-up in a neighborhood that your friends are afraid to frequent. Luck can decide everything from who gets that promotion you’ve been vying for to who ends up in your bed after a long night out with the boys.

Some people, like me, are not naturally lucky in life and love. Part of life is coming to terms with the reality of your condition. Learning to compensate for the lack of good luck and good timing that I possess is a seemingly a never-ending process. Or maybe this is all just bullshit and I’m using it to try and rationalize my misfortunes. Yeah, that’s probably it.

You might be wondering where this particular musing got its start. Well, I was catching up on some of my favorite blogs the other day when I came across something very interesting.

Josh & Josh

It’s very strange how you can feel deeply emotional about the departure of two people you have never met, at least not in the flesh. I wish them the best of luck, timing, and here’s to hoping that they return before they forget what made them fall in love with this city in the first place. Clearly it wasn’t worth fighting for this time around!