SEEING THE PROMISE
by Mary C. Macher
(originally published in Universal Matters, July, 1998, Vol. 2, Issue 4)
I looked at the numbers on the ticket in my hand and then looked at the numbers on the printed list on the desk. Then I looked at them again. No double about it: I won! I WON! I won, I won, I won!!! I danced all around the room. I won the state lottery. My cat looked at me as if I had finally flipped out. I won!
I called my husband’s number at work. I wanted to let him know that I would soon be on my way to the state capital to collect the check. He had not arrived yet so I let his co-worker know that it was not an emergency, but I really wanted him to call me back: There was something wonderful that I had to tell him. I hung up and looked at the ticket for the number to call about collecting my winnings. It was then that I read the words that changed everything: “Agent’s use only. Not redeemable.” What?! Yes, it was true and I saw why: It was one of those things that the lottery agent prints out when you ask what the winning numbers were last night. I had the winning numbers in my hand all right—so I could check them against all the losers I had in my other hand. For two minutes I had been a lottery winner. For two minutes I had a sweet vision of collecting a lot of money.
Sometimes you see what you want to see, and sometimes you believe what you want to believe. For example, sometime you could read an ad for a “fat-burning” product and you see a promise of an overnight success.”Yes!” you think. “I can lose all that extra fat by this Saturday night.” You picture the sharp new outfit you will buy and you see all the faces turned to look at the slim and trim you. Then you read the words: “... when used with a sensible nutrition and exercise program.” What?! Yes, it says it works, but not overnight. Yes, it promises to do what it says it can do, but you have to do what you have to do. There is a reality in what you read but it may not be the one that you imagined. The product has been formulated so that its ingredients work with what you body does naturally, your efforts with be enhanced by the product. And when the results actually promised are worth it to you, you know that you will do what you have to do.
I knew that when my husband called me back I would have to tell him something. I could tell him about the refund that I had gotten the day before from an overpaid bill but that news was just wasn’t “phone-call-at-work” wonderful. So, I told him the truth. He was okay about it and, of course, he wished that the ticket had been real. When he got home that night, he said that he was grateful that I found out the truth before he returned my call, before he had a chance to express some suppressed opinions at work. It pays to do a reality check.
What I “saw” at first was one thing, but the truth in this case was something different. The price of the lottery ticket did not purchase a promise that I would be the one to win, only that I had a chance at it. The price of the bottle of “fat burning” product does not get you a promise that by the next Saturday night you will be as slim as you want, but that if you follow the directions you could be that slim and trim you in the future. So, use that info for what it is worth and then go out and buy that sharp new outfit.
Animated butterfly by Sevenoaks Art. They have really beautiful animated art that does not cost anything but they do ask that they be acknowledged for the art.
©= 2009 M C Macher LLC