Beyond the Frige

I recently rented the movie Millions: A Lottery Story, a documentary about people who have won the lottery. It was fascinating to listen to the different points of view around that sticky, tricky topic of money.

One woman had purchased herself a new refrigerator complete with an external ice maker. It was a real splurge. She explained that when she got it, she started to cry. Her husband asked her, "What are you crying for?" And she replied, "Who would have thought I could have what I want." I got stuck in that moment as the film went on. My mind was astounded by what this woman had just said. It was a profound question.

First of all, this woman had won massive sums, and her big splurge wasn't on a Mercedes or diamond necklace. It was an everyday appliance. That was the greatest thing she could conceive in her mind...to have a new fridge. Yet she could have had practically ANYTHING! It reminds me of how elephants can be tied down with a simple rope because they are conditioned with a chain when they are very young and unable to break free. If they only knew how much they had grown!

Secondly, who would have thought we could have what we want? I certainly didn't grow up thinking that it could be so easy...that it could just one day happen. I was taught that I had to work for it, suffer for it, pine for it. I was taught to dream small.

The more I thought about this woman and her profound statement, the more curious I became. What was my refrigerator in life...what am I settling for because I can't think bigger? What is the ceiling I self-impose on what I am willing to receive from the Universe? And more importantly, what is beyond that refrigerator just waiting for me to see it and act? Am I afraid of what might lie beyond the refrigerator? I mean, it's so vast, so limitless, so...scary! But I want to know. I want to be that one crazy elephant that suddenly awakens to the flimsy rope at it's foot. Snap!