Nothing in my life taught me the urgency of having goals and a very specific plan of action that can be executed without hesitation like infertility.
I honestly had no idea how important it is to have an awareness of where you stand on the biological time clock until I learned how drastically it affects the choices you make of treatment.
It also reminds of how resourceful you can become when an obstacle arises.
I am at a point right now where I want to pursue some big ambitions that I have kept on hold or just not been resourceful enough to craft a plan for the past ten or so years. But I can hear a clock ticking again in my head, and strangely, it is motivating me to run the race faster, smarter, and with more creativity.
When we realized we were headed into the big ticket world of infertility treatments like IVF, I was content working in the company primarily as a salaried loan processor.
The lure of commission for me was always tempered by the potential unpredictability of income with the standard cycles that hit the housing industry.
When I got the first break out of the drugs and total cost of an IVF, I knew I would have to grow past my discomfort with being a salesman.
And I did.
It was painful and awkward at first, but I can say that all these years later, I grew enough income to cover the cost of the cycles with at least a minimal outlay of debt at first, and made enough to pay the debt off in a reasonable time with the help of the extra income.
For all my bitching and moaning about the cost of infertility, knowing that I wanted to be a father forced me to get out of my comfort zone in other parts of my life and make a change to realize that goal.
I found out I loved sales. I love being out in the community and meeting new people. I love advocating for causes. I love writing and speaking and giving a voice to people who are too tired or too scared to even whisper their concerns.
I grew as a person when I stretched beyond my comfort zone, and it paid off.
We beat the ’34 year old’ success rate cliff by six days.
It never would have happened if I hadn’t come to understand that there truly is ‘no time like the present’ to make the changes you have to make to get to a goal.
It also reminded me that with enough blood, sweat, tears, flexibility, creativity and determination, you can accomplish those goals…even if it comes right down to the wire on that big old ticking clock.