October, 2016
Life is like a lottery. There are winners and losers. But you can affect your chances of being in the winners group.
This is illustrated in the story of the religious man who had devoted his life to God and to helping others. He realized that if he won the lottery he could help more people, thousands more, so he decided to pray to God to win the lottery.
Every day he spent an hour praying to God, explaining what he would do with the money (none for himself of course) and asking God to help him. He did this for six months, and nothing happened. Getting frustrated, he went to his favorite prayer spot on the top of a nearby hill with a beautiful 360-degree view; raised his hands and beseeched God for help. After a few minutes of this, a lightning bolt struck and the voice of God followed.
“Joe, Joe, give me a break. Buy a ticket!”
It’s like that in the lottery of life. To be a winner, you have to buy a ticket. But what does “buy a ticket” mean in this context? It means putting yourself out there, educating yourself, socializing, working and playing hard, taking risks and being willing to fail. As Woody Allen says “80% of life is showing up.”
We have to show up.
