Buy a Ticket

"If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track,
which has been there all the while waiting for you, and the
life that you ought to be living is the one you are living."
— Joseph Campbell, Mythology Professor, Writer, and Lecturer

In Issue #217

Buy a Ticket
by Krista Jones

This essay has certainly been a long time coming. Now that it has finally come to fruition I’m afraid I don’t know where to start.

The beginning would be rather boring if you’ve been a longtime Copy Protégé reader. So I’ll kick things off with an old joke to set the stage:

A poor man goes to a church every day, kneels before the statue of a great saint, and prays. Each day he begs, “Dear saint — please, please, please … give me the grace to win the lottery.”

His pleas go on for months.

Finally, the exasperated statue comes to life, looks down at the begging man and says in weary disgust, “My son — please, please, please … buy a ticket!”

I’m humbled when I think about how long I’ve dreamed of being in the position I’m in right now. And by the effort it took to get here.

Unlike some, I don’t think our destiny is predetermined. When I think of destiny, I picture a dance between divine grace and willful self-effort. So there are certain lottery tickets I can buy to increase my odds of finding contentment.

Up until the past couple of years, I relied far too heavily on my head for direction. The single biggest exception to this was when I chose to become a copywriter. That time I went with my heart.

Not to say that it was an easy decision. My head fought me big time. After all, copywriting meant turning my back on six years of college to earn two environmental degrees. It meant starting over after working hard to establish my name in the industry. And it meant facing people’s skepticism about whether I could make it as a writer.

Nonetheless, my heart kept telling me to go for it. Not just for the freedom, creativity, and potential financial rewards it would bring, but for a much bigger and far more personal reason …

I had a gut feeling that copywriting — a career that many think is based on dishonesty and materialism — would (gasp) bring me closer to my spirit.

And it has.

Copywriting — particularly my work with Nightingale-Conant and Copy Protégé — has done more to nudge me along my spiritual path than I ever expected. It has also helped me start shifting from living from my head to living from my heart. These days I’m not only much better at following my bliss, but I’m also less afraid of being my authentic self.

Now, after years of longing for a spiritual context for my writing and business, I’ve finally done it. I’ve teamed up with a friend to launch a new website (www.YourOuterPurpose.com) and e-letter. Our mission is to help people who own, or think of owning a business, integrate their spirituality into their business as well as their family lives.

For the first time, I feel that I’m fully living the life that I ought to be living. I have found the right balance in my work and personal life.

So I’m very optimistic about 2009. In spite of the risk and uncertainty of starting a new business. And in spite of the recession.

If you want to get on the track that is meant for you, don’t wish for it. Don’t wait for the ideal circumstances. Increase your odds of finding contentment …

Buy a ticket.

Resource Referral: The Program That Started It All

I owe one thing to getting on the track I’m on today: Making the decision to take AWAI’s copywriting program.

Even though I’ve been doing less freelance work over the past couple of years, I’d be remiss if I didn’t share this with you. I’ve had more freelance work over the past two months — the time when the news of the seriousness of the economic downturn has come to a head — than I’ve had in years. I’m getting requests to write promotions from clients that I’ve never worked with before.

So at a time when I’m watching my friends and family struggling because of the recession, amazingly I’ve seen an increase in my workload!

If you’ve been waffling about getting started with AWAI’s copywriting program, this is, without a doubt, the best time to go for it. For starters, you’ll be investing in a career that is recession-proof. Plus, with the never-been-done-before special that AWAI is currently running, you’ll get the program at the lowest price that has ever been offered.

Please click on the link below to learn more. Remember, this offer is good only until Dec. 19th, so please don’t let it expire on you.

Learn more about becoming a work-at-home copywriter.

Reader Feedback: Why Are You Worried?

I got the following message from Cheryl D. last week. Her story moved me. I hope it does the same for you:

“I find myself eagerly awaiting each issue of CP. This issue was no exception. Your lead article about turning good into bad hit a home run with me. (Are you guys peeking into my living room? :) .

In February of 2006, I was unemployed. I had left a job as a legal secretary in September 05 to embark upon a new career in insurance sales. I enjoyed mixed success. Mixed, in that I made sales, but I also experienced a lot of cancelled policies. It wasn’t pretty. I lost my car, which left me having no way to get to work. I was barely holding on.

I vividly remember sitting in my apartment (luckily, I had lived there for 9 years and had a really, really understanding landlord), waiting for my last commission check, which was substantial. I had borrowed from Mom several times and couldn’t bring myself to ask her again. I became real creative with new recipes for ramen noodles. Somehow, though, my cat, NelsonWilson, got fed.

I had a telephone call from my best friend, who said "I’m worried about you." My response? "Why are you worried? Worry is a negative emotion and won’t help my situation." She became miffed (but she’s still my friend).

At that moment I had a revelation that hit me like a ton of bricks. Whatever I was facing, whether good or bad, was only to show me what I was made of. There was no good or bad, only my perception of the situation. My perception could be either good or bad.

To wrap it up, I’m here writing this e-mail to you. It’s been quite a journey, and I have learned to live without fear, to face each challenge with the knowledge that I am being honed and fired for something great.

And while I’m not a six-figure copywriter yet, I’m at peace cause I know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”