"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 every day 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 losing 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 everything 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. "I wish you enough!"

….. Bob Perks (2believe@comcast.net) (http://bobperks.com) by way of “Christian Voices” (www.ChristianVoicesWorldwide.net)