Along with millions of my closest friends, I checked my Powerball numbers last night and discovered that I did not have the winning numbers. My daughter and I checked the numbers twice, and verified that no, we had not won.
The posts in the past few days leading up to the drawing on various social media sites have been fun to read. So many things people were going to do after they won. Some huge life changes were being dreamt up, but most things I read were plans to improve the lives of others.
Like many of my friends, I had dreams of doing acts of kindness. I'd like to pay the utility bills of veterans or senior citizens or people who lost their job. Or maybe pay a doctor bill for someone who's struggling or send food to families in need.
A few years back, a friend of mine who is a single mom was paying off a medical bill, one small piece at a time, but methodically, on time, every month. She got a call one month from the hospital's Accounts Payable Department. Assuming they were asking her when she was sending in her money, she immediately said, "I'm mailing my payment for the month tomorrow." The woman on the other end of the line said that no, that wasn't why she was calling. In fact, she was calling to let my friend know that her debt had been paid in full. Each year on this one day, each person in the Accounts Payable Department got to make one great call, thanks to an anonymous donor, and let the person on the other end hear that same message, "Your debt has been paid in full."
Now I know that without that big lottery win, I can't do all the things that my heart would love to do, but I can still make a difference in my corner of the world. We all can.
If your plan was to provide food for the hungry, try donating to a food bank. Or maybe, prepare a meal at a homeless shelter. (This Sunday, I'll be cooking dinner with my sister for a homeless shelter in Wilmington. Our theme for this meal is a Summer Meal on a Cold Winter's Night. We prepare meals there on a regular basis, just the two of us. If you're in Wilmington, you can come help us serve!)
If your plan was to improve education, try volunteering at your local school. If your plan was to clean up the environment, you don't need to wait for Earth Day. Open your eyes to the areas around you, see what needs to be done, and make a plan to do it.
Whatever your plan was, you truly don't need to win the Powerball to begin.
Yes, I know. The Powerball would have been fun. BIG fun.
So, I checked my ticket again. My daughter caught a glimpse of another ticket in my wallet... the one from Saturday night that I hadn't checked yet. We ran the numbers and lo and behold... it was a winner!
Seven whole dollars, if we read it right.
"You're ahead, Mom!" she exclaimed.
She's right. I am ahead. I got the chance to dream. I'm making a difference in the world around me and thanks to that little ticket, I'll buy dessert for her when we go out to dinner tonight.
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