carmen
04-2011-18, 10:41 AM
"And it won't even cost you a dime"
"Don't worry. One day I'll hit it big," he said. And
there sat another dreamer who, although he was
already a success in life, felt that the "big one"
was due him any day now.
It's the spin the of wheel, the popping and stirring
of the ping pong balls that will turn their life around.
My father took part in it nearly everyday and yet
called it crooked and fixed. He sat alone in his
little apartment at the other end of his life, ticket
in hand, waiting and watching as they called out
another set of loosing numbers.
But this man told his wife, "Don't worry. I'll leave you
set for life. You'll not have a care in the world."
She said, "I have you. I don't need anything more."
"Ah honey, you know I worked hard all my life. I
gave you the best that I could. But this will make
it all worth while. I want to leave something
behind for the world to remember me by," he said.
Then he got in line for the state lottery.
Today was the day. This was the big one. He
joked with the others in line, "Don't even bother
playing. I've got the winning numbers."
He was standing in the losers line and didn't
even know it.
He was a loser before he even laid down a dollar.
But in life he was already a winner. The one thing
that he dreamed he could accomplish, "to leave
something behind for the world to remember me
by," he had accomplished years ago.
You see he was a loving, caring man whose gentle
spirit touched the lives of so many. He was a good
husband, whose hard work and dedication made
it possible for his wife of 40 plus years to stay home
and raise the children.
Oh yes. The children. The world will remember him
for generations to come because he and his wife
had children. Their contribution and their children's
children will carry their name far into the future. He
made his mark. He was successful and yet in his
final days he hung every thing he had on six numbers.
No, he wasn't spending their retirement money.
In fact, he would only spend a dollar. But in his mind
he had failed to give his wife and family all that they
deserved. That was the real loss here. He was
gambling his self worth. Odds were that right up
until his last breath he would never hit the big one.
Then it happened.
Right there, while he was standing in line, the man
had a heart attack and died on the spot.
Imagine for a moment what his last precious seconds
were like for him.
"Oh, God, not now. Don't let me fail like this. Honey,
I'm so sorry for letting you down."
He finally hit it big. It truly was his day. The day he
dreamed about all his life.
The fact of the matter is, he didn't realize how
successful he was until he crossed over and stood
there looking at his life. There spread out before
him like jewels and pearls scattered on the beach
waiting to be scooped up, were all his accomplishments.
I can see him shaking his head thinking, "Why
didn't I realize how much I had all along?"
Because in this world more is never enough and
success is measured in bank accounts and possessions.
No, he was no big time gambler in the world of high
finance. He gambled with his self worth and lost big time.
I discovered this years ago when a friend of mine
passed away. She was an older woman who worked
at the lottery machine in the local mall. Periodically
when the pay out grew big enough to temp my dreams,
I would stop by to see her. She was a friendly looking
lady who played with everybody's dream as the machine
spit out their "winning" ticket. We had this ongoing
joke that when one of us won the "big one" we would
come looking for the other and go to Hawaii.
I really enjoyed talking with her. She made me feel
important.
One day I picked up the paper and discovered that
she had died. I knew nothing about her through all
these years. But I decided to attend the viewing.
After paying respects I was introduced to her beautiful
daughter. She was sobbing and suffering an obvious,
great loss in her life. I took a deep breath and said,
"You have no idea who I am. In fact I really didn't even
know your mother's name until I saw her picture in the
paper today. But I had to come by to tell you how
important she was. She made people feel special.
When you bought a lottery ticket from her you already
won just because you met her," I said. "We always
joked about who was going to hit the big one first," I
stopped because I could hardly speak. I turned my
head away for a moment and then said "I'm here to
tell you she won. Thanks for sharing her with us."
Well, I'm here you tell you that you are already a winner.
This is the day you have been waiting for all of your life.
And if you are really lucky it will pay out again tomorrow
and the next.
And it won't even cost you a dime.
"Don't worry. One day I'll hit it big," he said. And
there sat another dreamer who, although he was
already a success in life, felt that the "big one"
was due him any day now.
It's the spin the of wheel, the popping and stirring
of the ping pong balls that will turn their life around.
My father took part in it nearly everyday and yet
called it crooked and fixed. He sat alone in his
little apartment at the other end of his life, ticket
in hand, waiting and watching as they called out
another set of loosing numbers.
But this man told his wife, "Don't worry. I'll leave you
set for life. You'll not have a care in the world."
She said, "I have you. I don't need anything more."
"Ah honey, you know I worked hard all my life. I
gave you the best that I could. But this will make
it all worth while. I want to leave something
behind for the world to remember me by," he said.
Then he got in line for the state lottery.
Today was the day. This was the big one. He
joked with the others in line, "Don't even bother
playing. I've got the winning numbers."
He was standing in the losers line and didn't
even know it.
He was a loser before he even laid down a dollar.
But in life he was already a winner. The one thing
that he dreamed he could accomplish, "to leave
something behind for the world to remember me
by," he had accomplished years ago.
You see he was a loving, caring man whose gentle
spirit touched the lives of so many. He was a good
husband, whose hard work and dedication made
it possible for his wife of 40 plus years to stay home
and raise the children.
Oh yes. The children. The world will remember him
for generations to come because he and his wife
had children. Their contribution and their children's
children will carry their name far into the future. He
made his mark. He was successful and yet in his
final days he hung every thing he had on six numbers.
No, he wasn't spending their retirement money.
In fact, he would only spend a dollar. But in his mind
he had failed to give his wife and family all that they
deserved. That was the real loss here. He was
gambling his self worth. Odds were that right up
until his last breath he would never hit the big one.
Then it happened.
Right there, while he was standing in line, the man
had a heart attack and died on the spot.
Imagine for a moment what his last precious seconds
were like for him.
"Oh, God, not now. Don't let me fail like this. Honey,
I'm so sorry for letting you down."
He finally hit it big. It truly was his day. The day he
dreamed about all his life.
The fact of the matter is, he didn't realize how
successful he was until he crossed over and stood
there looking at his life. There spread out before
him like jewels and pearls scattered on the beach
waiting to be scooped up, were all his accomplishments.
I can see him shaking his head thinking, "Why
didn't I realize how much I had all along?"
Because in this world more is never enough and
success is measured in bank accounts and possessions.
No, he was no big time gambler in the world of high
finance. He gambled with his self worth and lost big time.
I discovered this years ago when a friend of mine
passed away. She was an older woman who worked
at the lottery machine in the local mall. Periodically
when the pay out grew big enough to temp my dreams,
I would stop by to see her. She was a friendly looking
lady who played with everybody's dream as the machine
spit out their "winning" ticket. We had this ongoing
joke that when one of us won the "big one" we would
come looking for the other and go to Hawaii.
I really enjoyed talking with her. She made me feel
important.
One day I picked up the paper and discovered that
she had died. I knew nothing about her through all
these years. But I decided to attend the viewing.
After paying respects I was introduced to her beautiful
daughter. She was sobbing and suffering an obvious,
great loss in her life. I took a deep breath and said,
"You have no idea who I am. In fact I really didn't even
know your mother's name until I saw her picture in the
paper today. But I had to come by to tell you how
important she was. She made people feel special.
When you bought a lottery ticket from her you already
won just because you met her," I said. "We always
joked about who was going to hit the big one first," I
stopped because I could hardly speak. I turned my
head away for a moment and then said "I'm here to
tell you she won. Thanks for sharing her with us."
Well, I'm here you tell you that you are already a winner.
This is the day you have been waiting for all of your life.
And if you are really lucky it will pay out again tomorrow
and the next.
And it won't even cost you a dime.