Here in the U.S., we all just suffered from another bout of lottery fever as the Powerball Lottery climbed to an astronomical prize of over half a billion dollars. If you are reading this, chances are you knew someone who bought a ticket. I certainly did, and I began to dream about what I would do with all that money.
Not surprisingly, I did not win. The odds of winning are 175,000,000 to 1. To put that in perspective, you literally have a better chance of being struck by lightning or being eaten by a shark than you do of winning the lottery.
I always believed that if I could just win the lottery, I would be able to do what I want in life. In fact, I think that is what powers lottery fever – the belief that money is the answer to our dreams, when in fact that is terribly wrong.
The truth is, I don’t need money to fulfill my dreams in life. And I bet that is true for most people.
The dreams and desires we have do not rely on money, but rather in a belief in ourselves and the courage to take that first step to do what we have always wanted, even if it goes against conventional wisdom.
That is the true secret of those we admire with successful, fulfilling lives. They took the risk, sometimes against great odds, and believed in themselves and their dream. They followed their belief, their heart and their passion.
And rarely do those people meet with failure. They either succeed in fulfilling their dream, or they feel satisfied that at least they tried. The worst thing we can do in life is go to our grave knowing we didn’t even try.
So if you really want to feel like you won the lottery in life, stop waiting for your numbers to come up and simply take that first step you need to take to fulfill the dream you have held in your heart all your life
A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort.
– Sydney Smith
Thankfully, life is not a lottery where all we can do is hope to win against great odds. Life is a culmination of our actions. It is a story that is inspired by our dreams and can be made real simply by believing the story we tell ourselves and having the courage to act upon it. Once that first step is taken the path reveals itself. And step by small step the life you desire miraculously appears.
This awesome video celebrates your courage, a belief in yourself and that magnificent first step!!
Rich Largman
Empire of Hope 