Winning the Lottery
“Then I’ll be make a lot of money and be rich,” I heard from overhead on my early morning walk. A half dozen men were doing the dirty job of stripping a roof of shingles so as to lay a new roof. There is our universal fantasy.
Many fairy tales, myths, movies and books end with the hero’s smothered in riches. We all know of the myth of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It is this fantasy of the pot of gold which fuels multi million dollar lotteries. I remember the line ups in NY to get tickets for these lotteries.
What is all this excitement about? We already have at our fingertips more than anybody had when these myths were first told. Electricity, water, refrigeration, transportation, health care, education, homes, old age security, telephones are standard riches of modern society. So what is this pot of gold we long for? Is it a 40 foot boat and a Caribbean island? It is a lovely image, but I don’t think so.
Years ago a young man told a workshop group that he had had a dream at night in which he knew the correct numbers for the winning lottery. When he awoke he still remembered the numbers! You know what happened. Quick, out the door, buy a ticket with those numbers and pray. To his natural great disappointment it was not even close. It was only over several years that he began to understand the dream very differently. Now he saw that it was not about winning the money lottery but in winning in the great lottery of life. I am happy to report that he has won that lottery. He is married with a lovely young family and a prestigious job that helps influence opinions around the world.
That is really what we all long for success in the great lottery of life. To win the regional lottery would be lovely, but to succeed in living our lives fully is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
That is how I see it. What are your stories?