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I'm not a gambler, so I've neither won or lost much other than the opportunity to gain fame or lose a fortune.
My biggest win came while selling insurance for Aid Association for Lutherans between 1993 and 2003. My territory included clients and prospects who were members of 16 Lutheran churches in or near Augusta, Fairchild, Chippewa Falls, Cadott, Boyd, Stanley, and Thorp.
Just a few years in, my general agent asked me to cover a few additional congregations north of Stanley and Thorp in the small towns of Sheldon and Gilman.
It was on one visit to Sheldon a client asked if I'd like a ticket for the city's upcoming Lion's Club Rubber Duck race on Shoulder Creek.
Logic meant it was more a donation than sure-fire winner, but when clients or potential clients offered such things, I liked to say yes. I paid $5 or $10 for the ticket and promptly forgot about it.
You could have knocked me over with a pile of duck feathers when I received a letter with a check inside for $250!
I called my client to share the news and thank her for selling the ticket. Out of the couple hundred rubber ducks to leave the starting line, mine was the first to the finish. Since I worked on commission with no idea of the amount of the next paycheck, it was a blessing.
Back in college I was sharing a small apartment with two guys near the Drake campus, I was listening to the local oldies station. They were sponsoring an upcoming concert and said the 9th caller would win a pair of tickets.
I grabbed the landline phone, punched the numbers on the touch-tone phone and was greeted by the sound of ringing which meant I got through. A few seconds later, I heard a voice on the other end, "Congratulations, you are caller number 9. Who am I talking to?"
"David."
"Well, David, you just won a pair of tickets to see the Beach Boys!"
It was amazing. I understood how tough it was to get through on the phone, much less be the right caller, plus it was a group I wanted to see and would be a nice date for me and my girlfriend, Rhonda.
The old adage is you can't win if you don't play, but it is also true that the odds of winning the lottery are so remote that you have nearly the same odds to win if you don't play.
That's OK. I've been richly blessed throughout my life in grand and unexpected ways.
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