Not everything will go your way

CAW, CAW, CAW!

I’m sitting in my backyard, under the opaque shade of an IKEA umbrella. There’s a crow in the tree above me, squawking.

Loudly. Incessantly. Murderously.

It’s moments like these — when my few minutes of solitude are interrupted by the ridiculous squawk of a crow — that I find it incredibly difficult to be a vegan.

Such is life, I guess. Things often don’t go your way. And the universe has a wonderfully sick sense of humor about it all.

Even worse: I find this especially true as a copywriter.

(I guess today’s theme is “pity party”? Idk. Let’s roll with it.)

The truth is that probably 50% or more of the emails, advertorials, and landing pages I write totally bomb.

My ads don’t always convert, and my emails don’t always perform.

I usually don’t hear back from exciting jobs I apply to.

Aaaaand professional development as a copywriter can be a nightmare. This is certainly true if you’re not a politicker-a$$-kisser.

So why do it at all?

Because the pity party is only half the story. 

I’d be willing to be that most people who don’t ‘make it’ in this field of work have never taken the time to develop at least some sense of perseverance.

As Stoic philosopher Epictetus put it: “Do not seek for things to happen the way you want them to; rather, wish that what happens happen the way it happens: then you will be happy.”

Amor Fati, if you will. The love of one’s fate. I even carry this coin around with me to remind me of it.

While it doesn’t mean you should never try (and what kind of copywriter would you be if you did?) it does mean that there are some things that out of your control.

And you can save yourself a lot of grief and pain by recognizing what those things are, and letting them go when applicable.

— David