Treasures Of The Heart

Every week we hear another story about a lotto winner.  

Some lucky soul picked up a ticket at their local convenience store, checked the results, had a partial coronary and woke up rich.

Most of us have spent a moment or two daydreaming about what we might do if it happened to us.  

It’s fun to picture ourselves on the French Riviera or in Hawaii, dropped off by our chauffeur, surrounded by an entourage of our favorite cronies.  

We build a mansion, buy a fine car, replace our wardrobe, book luxury vacations.

What a blast!

I believe in dreaming.  

It lifts our spirits and retrieves a lost smile.  

Best of all, it’s FREE. 

Unless of course, you squander half your paycheck on a fantasy.

I spoke with a friend of mine who has a PhD in mathematics.  

He works at NASA in artificial intelligence.  

Last time I checked, he assembled neuron networks.  

In other words, he puts together artificial brains.

He explained to me that the odds of winning the lottery are so low that they approach random.  

Whether you spend $1, $10 or $100, your chances of winning remain about the same—close to random.

Therefore, if you want to keep a cheap thrill cheap, spend only a buck.

We run into a challenge when our daydreaming occupies more than the occasional few minutes of merriment—when reality becomes a chimera.  

True dreams blossom best at home, with your children, your significant other, a job or career that fulfills you.

You can’t buy the elation of watching your son’s first soccer goal or a daughter’s maiden recital.  

They don’t care about money.

Cash can’t supplant the deep bond that engenders from overcoming huge odds in partnership with a loved one—not even close.

Our greatest treasures surround us every day.  

They speak to us, reach out to us, with gestures, looks, down-trodden heads and Cheshire cat grins—with far more than mere words.

We live in a world that worships material madness at the expense of treasures of the heart.  

Money brings fleeting rapture, temporary highs that fade behind closed doors—out of the limelight.

Treasures of the heart cost us something different.  

Mining them takes time, awareness, commitment and an openness that must be protected.  

Silly money buys laziness, especially when it comes to human relations.  

Our heart muscle needs to flex, to pulse with vibrancy, to flow, to contrast painful valleys with glorious peaks. 

We have to stay in the mix, churning and tumbling with emotion and sentiment, not running for the escape hatch—the next distraction, which too much money makes all too tempting.

Don’t get me wrong. 

I like money. 

I like options and choices and a trunk full of fancies. 

I can spend with the best of `em.

It’s just that I really want my dreams to come true and when it comes to wining the lotto, I don’t like the odds.  

I can do a lot better at home.

Next time you play, ask yourself how you might up your chances with what you already have.

And remember—only a buck!

That’s A View From The Ridge…

Best-selling author, Ridgely Goldsborough has written 19 books to date, 5 on emotional intelligence and has developed a phenomenal program called CustomerConversionFormula.com that you can get absolutely free as a member of the Groove community.