We all know that the odds are against us. That the chance of us winning are way too small. Yet it’s the payout that makes our story of winning so vivid and real. It pulls us to buy another ticket because this time it will come true.
A few times in our lives, we come across opportunities that are too good to be true as if they were our huge lottery. Big opportunities that will propel us from our daily circumstance to a life we have always dreamed about. Every time, we come across the immediate possibility of a large payout, we feel deserving.
In the middle of telling ourselves the story of why the big opportunity will come through, we forget about everything else. A madness takes hold within us that our focus should only be on the payout. Forgetting that the chance of success is about the same as matching all numbers on a powerball lottery ticket.
But like unwanted items in the street during the frenzy of a huge lottery, we never see the smaller lottery ticket each of us are given. The opportunity of the next day wrapped inside of the love we share with those around us. A much smaller payout but one that has the opportunity to repeat itself every 24 hours and where we are in control.
It’s the opportunity of the next day that should excite us. For little happens without putting in the work. The cook cannot serve the meal without preparation. The mechanic cannot fix our car without first taking it apart. The doctor cannot help cure without someone having done the research first discovering what might work.
Forgetting to put in the work to make our dreams come true, wastes too much of our time. Time we can never get back as we begin to grow old.