How much do you make as writer is something I often get asked. You’d think this question would raise my hackles, but it doesn’t. I see it as an opportunity to teach a valuable lesson I learned more than a decade ago.

My husband and I had become close friends with a successful lawyer in the city where we lived. The house, the cars, the lavish vacations, this guy had it all in terms of wealth.

While out to dinner one evening he mentioned how much he hated his job.

I couldn’t keep quiet after hearing that. “Then, why did you become lawyer?”

“I figured it was the career path that would make me the most money—and it does—but being a lawyer doesn’t make me happy. I hate speaking in public, but what do you think I do in court all day? I’m a quiet man that doesn’t like confrontations, yet the money I make comes from fighting with people or faceless corporations. No, if I could go back to my early twenties, I would do things differently. Money wouldn’t be my top priority. I’ve spent a lifetime chasing it, and only made myself miserable in the process.”

His words really affected me. I know he would be happy to hear that I can say with confidence, “I choose to write, not because I expect it to bring me lots of money, but because it gives me a fulfilling purpose to my life that wasn’t there until I started.” Whatever you choose to do with your life, may you be able to say the same.