5 Somewhat Surprising Spiritual Reasons To Play The Lottery

I'm fairly certain that most financial experts will tell you there are better things to do with your dollar than buy a lottery ticket once a week. They will tell you the odds and how they are stacked against you. Those odds are estimated to be 18 million to 1 in single state drawings  and 120 million to 1 in multiple states. Pretty steep. They will suggest you put that dollar in an investment fund and when you have enough dollars to buy a share of stock to do that instead. They will tell you it's silly. A pipe dream. They will tell you to get real. Whatever "getting real" means.

While all of their suggestions are good ones, I am going to suggest that buying a lottery ticket can be a spiritual exercise in allowing and abundance.

What you say?

That's right. A spiritual exercise in allowing. 

This is what I mean.

1- The purchase of a lottery ticket is an opportunity to seep in possibility. After I buy my ticket, I take that little piece of paper in hand and pause, for just a few minutes and allow myself to believe, really believe, without censure, that anything and everything is possible. Yes, even something as far fetched as winning the lottery.  In a world where we are flooded daily with all the reasons we can't do or be something, that's a nice place to visit.

2- Buying a Tuesday ticket for the MegaMillions is an opportunity to feel the vibration of abundance. Most of us prefer to wallow in the vibration of scarcity. Here's a chance to indulge in the vibration of abundance. Think about what you might do with those winnings. Maybe a  shiny new Mercedes convertible or a five-bedroom beach house that you can hear the ocean from.  If you can't even dream what that life with more cash than you can spend would look like,  lottery or no lottery winnings, chances are you are never going to realize it.

3- This is your reminder that you have as a good as shot at getting what you want as anyone else. Statistically, the odds might be against you winning, but those chances are also just as good as anyone elses. No one has an advantage when it comes to who wins a daily drawing. It is that random. Statistically speaking.

4-Your small purchase is a big old statement to the Universe that you want to win.  That you believe it is possible for you to win.  Something.  And, that you are willing to take whatever steps you need  in order to make it happen. Hence the message, you gotta be in it to win it.

5- Your dollar is paying it forward. Giving generates the flow of abundance. The prize money is just part of what the Lottery is about. The New York State Lottery's mission is to earn revenue for education. So is California's.  In Pennsylvania it is for senior citizens. Your dollar may not bring you a winning ticket, but it is helping someone, somewhere.

Of course if all you are doing is buying lottery tickets and nothing else you are better off putting that dollar to use somewhere else, like your bank account, instead of experimenting with a little spiritual zen. Realizing your dreams requires faith and a belief in magic. But it also requires doing the work and taking steps. 

The Abundance Challenge

I've been working on creating more abundance in my life. That can be a little challenging in today's world. The media wants me to stay fixed on lack. They can't seem to help themselves from feeding off the fear factor that there just isn't enough to go around anymore.

Our 24/7 information cycle likes to focus on what is missing. Gratitude seems to be absent from their equation. Too many of us get caught up in the spin. I try not to.

You see I believe in Universal law which simply stated is if you want more, whatever more looks like, money, love, relationship, home, a new pair of shoes, you have start from a place of gratitude for what you have now, however small and paltry it might look in someone else's light.

This is not easy. Even for one who practices it as I. Just last week when I sent out my first ever newsletter, I noticed myself mired in the four people who chose to unsubscribe. For a few minutes I sunk into that place of lack, forgetting about the dozens who sent me personal notes of congratulations, not to mention the rest who did not unsubscribe. I caught myself. I let myself be really grateful. I focused not just on saying the words aloud but on feeling it.  And just like that I had more than four new subscribers to replace the others. No kidding!

We forget to be thankful. Especially when life poses those really difficult tests. We forget to express gratitude to ourselves, to others, to whatever power we  might choose to believe in that is greater than us. We often lip sync the words and forget that true gratitude is more than words. It is a feeling.

This isn't easy. It takes work.
But it is the kind of work that can be fun if you let it.

I challenge you this holiday to make a list of what you are grateful for. It doesn't have to be pages long. A short list of ten will do.

I further challenge you to share that list with whomever you are fortunate enough to spend the holiday with. And if by chance you are spending a quiet day at home by yourself with a turkey sandwich and a good book, pick up the phone and call someone. Share that list. See how it feels. Let me know what happens.


In gratitude, for you, my readers and for living in a world where I can have a blog on which I can write and publish whatever I so choose, without fear!


Joanne