Reinvention—A 'Winning' Idea

I didn’t win the Mega Million. I bought a ticket though. Well, okay, I bought five.

My original intention was not to buy any. Why waste the money. My relationship with Lady Luck has never been noteworthy.

The most I’ve ever won on scratcher or lottery tickets was about seven dollars. I did win a set of stainless silverware once. Besides with the staggering odds involved I stood a better chance of an asteroid killing me.

But without a ticket I had no chance of winning anything, so I let the asteroid statistic fall by the wayside. One ticket. One dollar.

However, when I saw people on Castro Street walking around with tickets smiling like kids I raised the bar and quickly calculated that one Venti Mocha Frappuccino at Starbucks cost about the same as five tickets, and tickets had fewer calories. (How do you like for a rationalization?) I bought five tickets and suddenly I was smiling too.

For a few hours I took a fantasy ride and let my imagination run wild daydreaming about what I’d do with all that money. I tried to imagine how it could change my life, but the truth is, I couldn’t fathom $640 million. When the results were announced I only had two matching numbers on all five tickets. My luck hadn’t changed.

I wasn’t disappointed; I never expected to win. The money would have been nice. Who am I kidding? It would have been incredible. But if I’d won would I be more content? I wonder.

I’m old enough to get that being content isn’t about money. It’s about having a passion and running with it. Whatever it is. It’s about finding fulfillment and satisfaction with something outside myself. It’s about being open for the challenge and opportunity to learn something new. It’s about giving back and contributing.

It’s also about learning to fail—realizing that not coming out on top or just plain screwing up doesn’t necessarily mean failure. It means I tried. It’s a little like buying or not buying a ticket. If I don’t even enter the race or try something different, I can’t possibly win. For me failure equates to not trying.

When I entered the work-a-day world, my goal was just to find a job. If it turned out that I liked it, or that I was suited to it, great. If not, buck up and deal. But that’s not the prevailing attitude of today. Today it’s not uncommon for people to change careers and reinvent themselves—sometimes often. Is it a form of mid-life crisis? Maybe. But I think it’s more. It’s being willing to follow a dream, and answer the nagging question: “What do I really want to do?”

We constantly ask kids what they want to be when they grow up. One week their answer might be a builder, the next a fireman or a dancer, a bus driver or a baseball player. They honestly have no clear idea of what they want to do or be. What they do know is what they love at that moment in time and that’s enough for them. By the time adulthood rolls around their answers have run the gamut of every conceivable path of life, and even then, they may not know the answer. I didn’t.

Jane Pauley, recently labeled a reinvention evangelist in the March issue of The Costco Connection, does a monthly TV segment aimed at helping people age 50+ find out what they’re meant to do. The show, Your Life Calling, evolved after her daytime talk show was cancelled. Out of the ashes of failure, a new idea was born. She now believes she’s found her passion–helping people look for ideas for what they want to be–helping them discover what's calling them.

The truth is we reinvent ourselves many times over during our lives. When we become parents, when children leave the nest or retirement looms. When a job ends or a crisis arises. Whatever the event, we continually take on new roles and readapt as needed—we reinvent ourselves and move forward.

Some lucky folks follow a dream and boldly take a new path. A business executive might quit the corner office and open a pizzeria. Another might write a book or design shoes. A senior might decide to return to the classroom and pursue an advanced degree in oceanography or art. Some folks reinvent themselves when they unexpectedly stumble on their passion. A single mom makes flavored pretzels or cupcakes for her kid’s snacks and suddenly a cottage industry is born.

I did ER nursing until completely out-of-the-blue I discovered my talent for designing and building houses. Talk about reinvention. Once I opened myself to that creativity it allowed me step into the world of creative writing. I even published a novel. I’m delighted to say I’m still discovering and deciding what I want to be, and I’m content.

I may not have won the millions, or even a few bucks, but I took a chance and bought a ticket to ride. Undoubtedly, the next time the coffers in the lottery swell to mega millions I’ll do it again, and I’ll probably rationalize it’s helping my waistline again. And I'll probaby reinvent myself a few more times too.

How would you reinvent yourself?