There might be something about experiencing winning. Either your own or those of others. Maybe this is one reason I love watching voice competitions on TV. For example I never get tired being happy even to tears for the person who gets the ticket to Hollywood during the audition phase of the American Idol.
I have never won big in anything but I have had some little ones in contests, raffles and even lotteries. I would like to cite a couple of instances when lady luck was generous to me. Not megabucks were involved but the situation in which they were won was what made them both significant and something to cherish.
I remember watching two 8th grade basketball games in which the younger of my two daughters was participating in one weekend in the late nineties. It was tough for me to sit through them because I just got the sad news that I was losing my job. When the person selling the fifty fifty raffle tickets came by, I bought a dollar's worth which I do not recall for how many chances. And I won! I believe it was about 11 bucks. Not big since there were many more games to come and not very many people watching either. I really wanted to help out the school sponsoring the game so I bought again tickets for the next fifty fifty raffle during the second game. I decided it was just a dollar. And I won again! The second winning was just as small as the first but I was ecstatic.
When I went home, I was still feeling low because of my job loss but a thought popped in my mind to console me. Could winning the two fifty fifty raffles back to back a sign from God not to lose hope and that He would take care of me? I know I was putting a lot of meaning to something which was just coincidental to my situation but it lifted my despondent spirit.
Another time I want to share just happened last Wednesday as I was leaving our cancelled writers' group meeting at the town library. Margaret came with her beaming smile notifying me that I won our church school 250 club weekday draw. When she read this news in our church bulletin the first thing she said to anybody who could hear was that she knew me, the winner. I never read the bulletin so I was pleasantly surprised to hear this wonderful news. Actually up to now I haven't had time to claim the prize which I think is either 25 or 50 dollars.
The whole day and even throughout the week I had this light happy feeling after this winning. In retrospect it was more than the winning that made my day or week. It was Margaret's vicarious happiness for me that I appreciated and her pride that she knew me, the winner.
It is really ones perspective as the poster above illustrates that could make a small winning a huge and significant one. I had that gift with these two instances.
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