Recently I heard this story from a friend and thought it was just amazing, so I did some research to verify it. I found articles on Bloomberg, Huffington Post and CBS News to name a few, all verifying the story.
I want to share it with you because it has applications in multiple areas of life - both personal and professional.
It’s about a single women working in the family business that has a very giving heart - even as a child she was giving her allowance to UNICEF. Apparently it was her Mother who taught her about giving and how important it is.
An unexpected tragedy happens in the family and her brother is killed in a car crash. With the possibility of her 5 nieces and nephews going to foster homes, she steps up to the plate, gets custody and raises them herself, adamant that they will not be sent to separate homes!
Struggling to pay the bills would be an understatement. But one day a figure, $112,000,000, came to her, out of the blue. She wrote the number down and focused on it, visualizing it when she could; she even thought about it when she fell to sleep, imagining herself holding a lottery check for $112,000,000.
Then it happened. On Mother’s Day in 2007, Cynthia Stafford won the California Mega Millions; the $2 ticket she bought was worth $112,000,000. And all of a sudden there she was, holding that $112,000,000 lottery check like she had visualized all that time.
Cynthia split the winnings with her Father and Brother, donated considerable amounts to various charities, and now produces films.
So what could I learn from this? A few things actually, and in no particular order: make my plan, and visualize it, daily. Also, give, give, give. Cynthia advises not waiting to give back to others, that there will be no ‘perfect time to give.’ And giving doesn’t have to be in the form of money; there are other ways to give.
I think she took her own advice, because, when is there a good time to adopt 5 children on a single income?
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