Winning the Lottery

From January 20th-25th I worked at the Dallas World Trade Center during the Winter Trade Show, "Market", as it's referred to in the biz. This event, the one my family typically works, happens twice a year and my family has been involved since I was a wee tot (maybe 8 years old). It's always been a fun thing to be a part of. My dad originally represented a lamp manufacturer and so he ran the Dallas showroom when the trade show came into town. Trade shows are a big deal, with all the buyers from all the stores in the country coming to restock their shelves. It's always interesting to me to see who comes in the showroom and what they buy. I've seen every brand of person throughout the years, from mom-and-pop shops to some big name stores that you probably shop at every Christmas and Back to School season. I've seen men buyers and lady buyers, old and young, fashionable and way out of style. I've seen people make great purchasing choices and I've seen some folks spend $1000 on lamps, art and furniture that they will never sell for a profit. And every year I work, I learn more about the value of money. Not only do I see first-hand how merchandise is marked up from the manufacturer to the buyer to the store and then to the consumer, but I have ample time to think about what it might be like to be a buyer and spend other people's money. This year, I thought about the lottery, which is a similar beast. For a mere $1 or $2, you can win millions and then what?

When I brought up this conversation to another Market associate, we began talking about what dreams we might finally begin to realize if we won millions. We both talked about giving 10% back to the church, saving another great portion, but then our plans differed. The main reason for the difference probably has more to do with age than desire. I am at the beginnings of having a family and growing up, whereas the lady I was speaking with has grandchildren now and is thinking more about retirement than buying a starter home; we're just in two different places. But regardless of why our plans differed, the difference made me think about how we all plan our lives. My plan for the money was to save it. Maybe pay off our car, take a chunk to pay cash for a house and then save the rest in some conservative savings account or Roth IRA. Her plans including saving, but were more well thought out. She would, upon winning the lottery, quit her current job so that she could pursue setting up an organization she has always dreamed of starting. Sounds like a good plan and an honest way to use her newly incurred fortune, but my question to her was, "why wait"? "Why not start the process now through smaller means, and then see where it leads?" Her answer was more than likely a typical answer for most of us, "I don't have the extra time right now to do what I love". And that's what got me to thinking. Are you pursuing your passion?

When it comes to the end, and we are faced with the last days of our lives, are you going to be able to look back and say, "Man, I'm glad I lived the life I lived" or will you wish you had chased that one dream that you had always dreamed? Now, to see where I'm coming from, you have to know that I am a Christian and my perspective comes from following after Christ first and foremost, but I think Americans (and maybe others, but I can only speak from what I know) tend to postpone the things that make us tick because we are afraid of the outcome. And I don't even mean that we are afraid to fail, I think we might be afraid to succeed. And I think there's a little of both. I think we have a fear that if we jump ship and follow a dream, we'll run out of money and be homeless. But the opposite could also be true. Maybe we're afraid that if we actually pursue the dream with our whole heart, we could succeed and the possibility of that new life can be immobilizing. So maybe we can find a middle ground. It's true that many of us have to work a job we don't love so that we can pay the bills, but if we can leave with it, do we need it now? If not, could we find a different job that paid less but fed our souls? I think so, but I'm a little risk-taker. If not, then why not at least make time for doing something you love every week? For example, if you have a heart to act, then join an acting class, and if that means that you don't work overtime, then cut back somewhere else so that you don't NEED to work overtime. Because no matter how hard we fight it and how many face lifts, tummy tucks, boob jobs or hair colorings we get, no matter how many pills, vitamins, supplements or life-preserving measures we take, we (who are of the age to read this) are all going to leave this earth within the next 50-70 years (if not sooner)....so what are we doing spending our time doing things we hate, or the things that stress us out? I spend a lot of time talking to people (mainly women) about life and what stress they have, and 99% of what causes stress is money. It's no surprise to me, really, when our culture says "Love Money" and our God says, "you can't love money and God. No one can serve two masters". I side with God. If we choose to chase money instead of passion, what do we have in the end? A nice house? A stadium named after us? Isn't it a greater accomplishment to have a legacy of love and relationship? If the nice house and self-named stadium result from pursuing a passion, then I'M ALL FOR IT! But if they come at the cost of daily stress and agonizing labor, then why do it?

So my challenge to you is this. Take a moment to think about what YOU would do if you won millions of dollars (or billions if you're already a millionaire), and then figure out a way to start doing that NOW. Maybe you could volunteer for that non-profit that's similar to the one you would like to start, or maybe you can sign up for guitar lessons if you'd ultimately love to travel in a trailer and be a rock star. It doesn't have to be something that consumes every free minute that you have, but DO SOMETHING. Don't just put that dream on a shelf and think that you would pursue it, "if only I had....", start NOW!