My 'Road To Damascus' Moment

Have you ever experienced a 'Road to Damascus' moment?

That expression comes from the Bible, referring to the conversion of Saul of Tarsus to Christianity while travelling to Damascus to persecute Christians.

This expression NOW signifies 'An important point in someone's life where a great change, or reversal, of ideas or beliefs occurs'.

My 'Road to Damascus' moment happened at the Old Brompton Road Cemetery, in London, in April of 2004.

It was such a powerful moment that it allowed me to go from zero to suddenly making over $300 a day in my new business.

But it wasn't always like this.

I left Greece when I was 18 years old to come to England with the hope of a better life. Somehow things didn't quite turn out that way.

I ended up working as a security guard for two years, earning just $5 an hour, barely scraping by. During that time, banks were practically throwing credit cards at me, and--not surprisingly--I was getting more in debt each month.

I worked for a while at a telesales job that paid a paltry $6 an hour, in the hope that I would earn commissions and pay off my debts. I made just one sale in 14 months, and I was so awful at my job that I got fired.

By November 2003, in my early 20s, I was $12,000 in debt, I had no money, no job, and no prospects.

To top it all off I got kicked out of my apartment; I hadn't paid the rent in two months. I felt so embarrassed and ashamed about my situation that I didn't tell anyone what was happening. In any case, my family back home--with whom I wasn't really on speaking terms--was in no position to help me, anyway.

With no money and no place to stay, I ended up taking shelter in a derelict building in London, with a handful of other homeless people. Those were scary times. You would try to get some sleep, not knowing if you were going to get mugged or beaten up. I lived with the constant fear of getting thrown out, or--more routinely--not being able to buy food.

I remember going into a supermarket and trying to decide whether to buy a cucumber or some broccoli, then breaking down in tears because I couldn't afford either. "I'm $12,000 in debt! It will take me years to pay that debt off! I can't even afford 37 cents to buy broccoli! I should use that 37 cents to pay off a bit of my debt!"

I remember trying to get $30 out of an ATM (£20), on one of my last remaining credit cards, and the ATM screen said "Insufficient Funds"! "That's it!" I thought to myself. "I have nothing left!"

And yet somehow, almost miraculously, week after week the banks would top up the credit limit on one of my credit cards. I was getting even more in debt, but at least I could buy some food and survive a few more days.

Every day I would look at the classified ads and job postings. But nobody wanted to hire me. Some days I was so depressed that I couldn't even muster enough energy to get out of bed (I was sleeping on a damp, dirty mattress on the floor).

The whole time I kept telling myself over and over again what a no-good loser I was. Negative thoughts kept dragging me further into depression.

"Enough!" I yelled out one day, crying. I just had to get out of my head. Those thoughts were driving me crazy. I ran out of that building, down that street, and I just kept running in the freezing rain, crying the whole way. My lungs were burning and I could feel the cold air through my rain-soaked clothes.

I ended up hiding in the Old Brompton Road Cemetery in Earls Court, to get away from the rain and the crowded streets. I didn't want anyone looking at me.

There was nobody there, and, after running to the end of the cemetery, I collapsed amongst some seventeenth-century tombstones. After a while I sat up, looked around, and noticed one of the tombstones. I forget the name, but this young man had lived from 1654 to 1674. "Almost my age," I mused. It made me think about what would happen if I died right there and then.

As despair and depression started to take grip of me again, and tears started welling up, suddenly, a question popped into my head: "What did you give?"

"What did I give? What do you mean, what did I give? I'm broke! I don't have anything to give! Let me have something first, then I'll give!" I said out loud, exasperated.

Again, this voice asked:

"What did you GIVE?"

In that moment, a realization struck me. I realized that I had been focused on taking and getting my whole life. I had never stopped to think about whether I was really contributing to others. Was I helping people? Was I adding value? Was I making a difference?

I got up, looked at those tombstones, and I made a vow:

"I am going to turn this around. This is not the end. This is just the beginning. I am going to figure out how to turn my life around and I will devote my life to helping others do the same!"

I decided to view this as a test--a test that I absolutely was going to triumph over. I was going to break through this challenge. They say that problems are the gym on which we sculpt our souls. Well, let's start a-sculpting!

My resolve was total. I had made an incontrovertible decision and had cut off all other possibilities. I was going to make it, no matter what!

I walked out of that cemetery the freest I had ever felt.

I didn't know this yet, but 28 days later I would launch my first Internet business, bringing in more than $10,000 a month.

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