I think the only thing that’s certain in life is this: Change.
Good times come, good times go. Bad times come and they also go.
As a wise one once said to me, “And it came to pass.” Different from, ‘this, too, shall pass.’
What he meant by that had a much more profound meaning than simply saying, ‘this, too, shall pass.”
He meant that it came, in order to pass … or, so it could pass. The experience came, it was here, it was good or bad — and then it was gone.
I think his message was most profound! And it jives with many other mystical or Eastern philosophies.
Perhaps a good metaphor could be a hub and a wheel. As the wheel goes round and round, the hub stays constant. Life’s circumstances and experiences change, going round and round, but the constant within me never changes.
So, the question I must ask is:
Do I choose to identify with lifes ups & downs, good and bad times … or do I choose to identify with the constant, never-changing Self?
A case in point — in the space of 2 weeks, I secured and lost about $13,000.00. Now, I don’t know about you, but to me, that’s a LOT of money! 
When it looked as though the money was a definite, I was very happy. But when each project fell out, one-by-one, and for totally different reasons … I wasn’t very happy at all.
Truth be told, I was downright depressed.
Then, I reflected on what a wise teacher from long ago used to say … “and it came to pass,” so I asked myself what was the lesson here for me to get, gall dern it!
OK, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and asked for the answer. The answer came …
Be the hub.
Be happy and content, despite what befalls me. Good, bad, acceptance, rejection … it’s all just part of the wheel of life, going round and round, collecting some debris (bad); then washing it off in the next rain (good).
Hard to do? Oh yeah.
In case you’re interested … part of the money I lost was due to a marketing guru-type, who just flaked on me. I spent an inordinate amount of time with him, jumping through his hoops.
I justified it, because it would likely lead to a lot more work and even a revenue share. Never again.
The next one, the client had a falling out with their investor and was put on hold. OK.
The third one was due to my fee being too high. Oy vey …
Now mind you, I qualified him on the 45 minute phone-con. I even asked if he had a budget for the project, because I didn’t want to write a thoughtful proposal, if he didn’t have enough money to spend.
“No,” came the answer. No budget. He wanted me to send a proposal, elaborating on what I would do, and we’d go from there.
I complied, and he was floored! Why not just tell me what he thought the project was worth to him in the first place? Amazing.
I think I learned something from this: Always, always get a client to tell me what they *think* a project is worth.
If it’s waaay off … I’ll just walk. Or, if I tell them what I would charge and they agree to it, then I’ll write it up.
I was happy. Then I was sad. Then I decided to be happy, despite what happens on the wheel of life.
These last 3 episodes were just too close together to be coincidence. Aahh yes, but I don’t believe in that anyway. “Coincidence is where God chooses to remain anonymous,” I read somewhere.
So, if nothing happens by accident, an awake person looks for what’s really going on here, methinks. For me, for now, at least one of my lessons is:
Don’t let my happiness depend on what I label good or bad. Because, as sure as shootin’ … it WILL change.
So, I choose happiness, despite what befalls me.
To help ensure your happiness with your marketing efforts, devote a proper budget, keep your word and have rock-solid funding before calling in a marketing strategist and copywriter.
That way, we’ll all be happier, and you’ll get kickass marketing, with a high ROI!
Carolyn
http://www.kickasscopywriter.com
