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My daughter recently started reading The Hunger Games. This is exciting as I now get the privilege of introducing her to a strong-willed and determined young lady who is discovering who she is and all she is capable of accomplishing. It’s fun watching her explore all the joys and heartache that lies within the pages of this book. Her new favorite saying, whenever we ask her or her brother to do something is now “I volunteer as tribute!” While watching her move through the story has been fun, I cannot help but wonder if those of us who are moving through life and all that it holds and requires of us, need a reminder that the odds really are in our favor. And maybe it’s not that we just need that reminder but that we need to believe this.

Not long ago, the 4th largest Powerball jackpot was won. It was roughly $750 million and went to a single ticket somewhere in the Midwest. I am not a big lottery player, but every now and then when the jackpot reaches a certain point, I throw a couple bucks in for fun. I dream for a little bit about what it would be like to win and then quickly go about my day getting on with real life. I know that the odds of me winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292 million. The truth is, the odds are not in my favor. In fact, when it comes to the lottery and other games of chance, the odds are never in our favor. These games are designed to entice us to play and enter into a rigged game.

I think most of us know that we are not going to win the lottery, but we continue to play. I once read that most individuals who play the lottery know and understand they are going to win and they don’t play for the win but play for the 15-30 minutes that follows after buying their ticket. It’s the escape. It’s the opportunity to dream about a life they wish they had and all that would be possible with a windfall of substantial proportions. And it doesn’t matter if the jackpot is 40 million or 1.2 billion, it’s the opportunity for an escape from the mundane and routine.

What most of us fail to realize is that the life we most often desire is possible; however, it doesn’t come quickly or cheaply. But it’s a game that if we are willing to put in the effort where the odds are most certainly in our favor. You were designed and created with the gifts and tools you need to live the life you truly desire. But the life we often want requires more than many are willing to invest. It has been said that most of us spend more time planning our next vacation than the life we want to live. It’s something we tell ourselves we will get to tomorrow. Or when this busy season is over, then I will start focusing on the life I want. There are too many things I have to take care of before I can get to that. The only problem is that we are never done. The to-do list never shrinks, the busy season simply changes to the next busy season.

What if you took a chance and started dreaming about the life you wanted without having to win the lottery to get there? What if the life you really desired really had nothing to do with the amount of money you had in your account but the amount of impact you made from day to day? That the life you really wanted was closer than you thought, but just behind something, it would take a while to get through.

I recently decided that I was tired of dreaming about a life I knew I was created to live and decided to start living it. The life we want doesn’t begin with a winning lottery ticket but with the mindset that I will live on purpose now. Rather than simply settling into my default routines, I would start making changes and adjustments that would put me farther down the road and closer to what I really want. The truth of the matter is that winning the lottery might be nice or exciting at first, but it often brings a new level of stress and anxiety that we really don’t want and are often trying to escape. But living with the mindset that I can live the life I was created to live I believe the odds are in my favor, that I have what I most of what I need to get where I want to be and for the things I lack, I am worth the investment to get.

The goal though is not to simply accept what society has told us is the dream life, but to discover the dream life that is buried deep in the core of our being. When we choose to live in that mindset, with that kind of intentionality, the game shifts, and the odds move in our favor. Part of the hard work we have to put in is discovering what we were made for. Then we have to be willing to do what is necessary. The trials and setbacks, while frustrating and even discouraging, can either be the roadblock that stops us or the launchpad to something greater. They can serve as the reason we never move forward or contribute to making our success all the much sweeter.

The question we have must answer, the question only you can answer for yourself starts with, “What does my dream life really look like?” Followed by, “What am I willing to do to get where I know I was created to be?” Once you know that and you decide to move forward, you have won. Plan for the victory but plan for the setbacks and failures as well. And when you have,

“May the odds ever be in your favor.”

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