Lottery Dreams and Moral Choices

Lottery Dreams and Moral Choices (Living Lucky® Podcast)

What would you do if you found a sleeve of lottery tickets? In a moment that could have been a lucky windfall, Jason found a stack of lottery tickets in his grocery cart and faced an instant moral dilemma. He didn’t hesitate to turn them in, but this small act of integrity sparked a profound conversation about what it truly means to be “lucky.”

In this deeply reflective episode of the Living Lucky® Podcast, we explore the intersection of integrity, opportunity, and the universe’s plans.

Here’s what you’ll gain:

• The "Treasure or Test" Dilemma: Learn how to distinguish between an opportunity from the universe and a test of your character. Is that found money a gift for you or a chance to prove your integrity?
• A Deeper Definition of Dreams: We unpack why a stack of tickets isn’t just paper—it’s someone’s hopes, possibilities, and dreams. Discover the power of respecting others’ aspirations.
• The Law of Karma: Understand our core belief that good deeds create a positive ripple effect. We discuss how doing the right thing, even when no one is watching, is its own reward.
• Your Personal Moral Compass: Hear our vulnerable and honest discussion about our own lottery-playing habits and the powerful inner dialogue that led to Jason's decision to turn in the tickets.
• The Parable of the Drowning Man: We break down this classic story to help you see how opportunities might be showing up in your life in ways you don't expect.

This episode is a powerful reminder that "living lucky" is about so much more than what you find—it's about the choices you make. Join us for a conversation that will challenge your beliefs and inspire your moral compass.

• How to make moral decisions.
• The role of integrity in success.
• What is karma?
• How to distinguish between an opportunity and a test.
• The importance of personal values. How to be an ethical person. What does it mean to be lucky? How to create good karma. The power of doing the right thing. "How do I make the right choice when no one is watching?" "Is finding money a test of character?" "How do you define personal integrity?" "What is the parable of the drowning man?" "Does doing the right thing come with a reward?" "What is the difference between luck and integrity?" "How can I live a more ethical life?"

Transcript

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Living Lucky Introduction

Jana Shelfer 0:00

Are you ready to create a life you crave ? Let's spin that doom loop of negativity into an upward success cycle and start Living Lucky® Good morning . I'm Channa , I'm Jason and we are Living Lucky® . You are

Jason's Lottery Ticket Discovery

Jana Shelfer 0:19

too . Jason found lottery tickets in his grocery cart .

Jana Shelfer 0:22

I did .

Jason Shelfer 0:22

it was like a little Easter egg Tell me the story , so I got through all my shopping and when I flipped the little basket down where the eggs go in the front the bread , the eggs or the child yes , there was a sleeve of lottery tickets that had just been bought before I got the cart .

Jana Shelfer 0:39

A sleeve of lottery tickets ?

Jason Shelfer 0:41

Yeah , it was that little plastic cover that people put their lottery tickets in when they buy them .

Jana Shelfer 0:45

I think I'm going to say you are Living Lucky® , that is manna from heaven .

Jason Shelfer 0:52

Yeah , it felt like it , but then it only hit me for a second . I was like this is somebody's dreams . I know , when I buy lottery tickets , I automatically start thinking what am I going to do with the winnings ?

Jana Shelfer 1:06

So what did you do with these tickets ?

Jason Shelfer 1:08

So I got through paying for my groceries and then I went over to the customer service line and I told the young lady behind the counter . I said someone left these in the cart .

Jana Shelfer 1:19

You turned them in .

Jason Shelfer 1:20

Yeah , it was like probably $35 , $40 worth of lottery tickets . Whoa , whoa whoa in .

Jana Shelfer 1:25

Yeah , it was like probably $35 , $40 worth of lottery tickets . Whoa , whoa , whoa . I've heard so many comedians say , yeah , I found a $20 bill and I literally you know they make fun of the people that say , hey , did you lose a $20 bill ? Because everyone's going to say , yeah , I did .

The Moral Dilemma Explained

Jason Shelfer 1:38

I hope the person came back and they said , hey , I left my lottery tickets in the cart . By chance did someone turn them in and I hope that they won millions of dollars .

Jana Shelfer 1:49

That is a total . You are a better man than I . I'm not a man , but you are a better man than I . I am so proud of you and I have to say this is one reason why I love you . I can't say that I would have done the same thing . I'm that person that would be like oh my gosh , thank you God . I just found a sleeve of lottery tickets .

Jason Shelfer 2:13

This is meant for me and there's a part of me that could have done that . But I think also , if I had won , I would have felt guilty about winning , because when I I'm not cause , when I was a kid growing up , I was the kid that was like don't come up here , mom , I'm not on the dresser playing with the iron . You know , like I always told on myself , I always told on myself I had that , I had that hidden guilt . Yes , that was like I want to do the right thing , I want to help people . I want to was like I want to do the right thing , I want to help people , I want to . I want to be the good person . And I'm not saying it's a , you're a bad person when you find things because the universe is providing always yes , and I didn't feel like that was the universe saying , hey , this is for you .

Jana Shelfer 3:00

Oh my gosh .

Jason Shelfer 3:01

In that moment .

Jana Shelfer 3:02

Okay , so that's the distinction , Because there is a story about a man that falls off a ship in the middle of the water and he's like you know what God's going to save ?

Jason Shelfer 3:15

me , please , god , save me .

Jana Shelfer 3:17

And he has faith that God is going to save him . And then all of a sudden a helicopter comes and says we've got you , we're going to send down a rope . God's coming , god's going to save him .

Jason Shelfer 3:25

And then , all of a sudden , a helicopter comes and says we've got you , we're going to send down a rope . God's coming , god's coming to get me .

Jana Shelfer 3:28

He's like , nope , God's going to save me . And then a ship comes by and says , hey , we're going to save you . And he's like , nope , God's going to save me . I have faith that God's going to save me . And then , when he dies , he confronts God and says why didn't you save me ?

Jason Shelfer 3:44

And God says I sent you a helicopter and a ship , I sent you a helicopter , I sent

Dreaming About Lottery Winnings

Jason Shelfer 3:50

you a ship .

Jana Shelfer 3:50

So there is this distinction of when do we know whether the universe is providing a nice little ? Treasure or when they are , when the universe is testing you , because that can also be the perspective we take . The universe was testing your integrity , your honesty , which , I have to tell you , I don't know if I've got got it to that- level .

Jason Shelfer 4:20

Yeah , who is the actor from it's a Good Life ? The Jimmy Stewart . It could have been Jimmy Stewart leaving me this little . A wonderful life . A wonderful life . Yeah , it could have been Jimmy Stewart came back as an angel , dropped these lottery tickets . They were all winners . All of them Like billions of dollars in money in the cart for me to get .

Jana Shelfer 4:40

I have to say , I mean , I didn't even get this cart .

Jason Shelfer 4:43

Like it was outside in the front of Publix in a line , not inside the store where they keep all the carts to get , like it was in the line waiting to go in the stores .

Jana Shelfer 4:54

Because I have to say , we have never been those people that play the lottery until recently , and it's provided a little bit of fun for us , and it was when the jackpot was so high , you really got so high . It was ridiculous and we thought oh you know what , let's just what's our shot ?

Jason Shelfer 5:14

What would you do with a billion dollars ?

Jana Shelfer 5:15

And we started dreaming into that and I actually started thinking well , I would like a jet to take us around when we travel , so I can take my dog .

Jana Shelfer 5:24

It's for that reason alone .

Jason Shelfer 5:25

It's not because I need luxury , it's silly , actually , I want luxury too . Yeah , you start getting like these little crazy reasons .

Jana Shelfer 5:34

Yes , okay .

Jason Shelfer 5:36

Get outside of your imagination .

Jana Shelfer 5:38

I bring that up because since we've been living in those dreams like just oh , this is a fun little game to play and we start really letting our imagination go there You've started buying lottery tickets and you're like you know what , if anyone can win , I think it could be us .

Jason Shelfer 5:57

If not us , then who ?

Jana Shelfer 5:59

And so you find these lottery tickets in your grocery cart and you turned them in . Yeah , now what's to say ? The woman behind the counter doesn't say oh , free lottery tickets .

Jason Shelfer 6:13

I'm going to scratch . These are free lottery tickets . I'm going to scratch them off . Free lottery tickets , and if that's what happens , that's what happens , and I think that's fine too . But that's not for you to decide yeah , and it just wasn't for me . It felt like it wasn't my dream .

Jana Shelfer 6:28

And it might have been for her dream , but it is my dream .

Jason Shelfer 6:29

It might have been for her dream , it might have been your dream , and if you had been with me it might have been a different outcome , and I think it still would have been okay .

Jana Shelfer 6:38

I'm really proud of you .

Jason Shelfer 6:44

I am really , really proud of you .

Jana Shelfer 6:45

So I think that there can be happiness and pride on both sides of that line . I also know that if that is a winning ticket , this is going to be a viral story and you know what ?

Jason Shelfer 6:54

And some people are going to say you are the dumbest person alive . Like you had a chance and you didn't take it , you didn't swing the bat .

Jana Shelfer 7:00

So I guess the real question is would you want to win a billion dollars and feel guilty for the rest of your life , or would

The Value of Integrity

Jana Shelfer 7:12

you rather win , be honest and have that inner peace in your soul and do the right thing ? That's a or , in your opinion , the right thing .

Jason Shelfer 7:24

And I think that's that's a , that's a big question , because there's a like what ? What does it take to be happy ? I could say there was a comedian that we were listening to and she's like I know . What it took to be rich in her mind was to have her bills just on auto pay .

Jana Shelfer 7:42

Oh yeah .

Jason Shelfer 7:42

You know , and that that struck me as so funny . She's like that's the biggest flex I've ever had . It's like I didn't have to pay just enough to keep the lights on . I was able to put my bills on auto pay and I was like that's funny , like it's not funny , but it's , I get it . Yes , and I was like that's funny . It's not funny , but I get it , yes , and I feel like if someone is in there and their dreams are in that sleeve , I don't want to take their dreams .

Jason Shelfer 8:11

You want to collaborate and help them achieve those dreams . My job as a coach is to help people achieve their dreams . So if there's a chance that they could come back and say , did anyone turn in my lottery tickets , I want them to be there for them . That was the only thing . If there's a chance that they walked back in and said , hey , I left my lottery tickets in the basket , is there a chance someone turned them in ? I wanted them to say , yeah , someone did , and they were wearing a Living Lucky® shirt oh that , this just this is like a happy little warm and fuzzy story and I'm just really proud of you .

Jason Shelfer 8:45

And best case scenario , those are winning tickets and they get back to the I mean they had the original grocery shopper that just happened to leave right , not the person behind me that's like oh , I lost some lottery tickets , oh it was me In fact .

Jana Shelfer 9:01

maybe I'll go today and say , hey , I left my lottery tickets in the shopping cart .

Jason Shelfer 9:06

Did anyone return those ? There was like one of each . There was like $5 scratch off . There was some other stuff in there .

Jana Shelfer 9:13

No , In fact , people listening to this are like which Publix was it which ?

Jana Shelfer 9:17

In fact , people listening to this are like which Publix was it ? Which Publix was it Right ?

Jana Shelfer 9:20

Well , I'm very , very proud of you and if there is a thing which we know there is , karma then , I believe , good things will come to you .

Jason Shelfer 9:30

I'm 100% certain that everything that goes out comes back .

Jana Shelfer 9:34

And that is the mindset that I want to live in and that I want to believe wholly in . And if anyone is listening to this , just know you know you do the good , good in your heart , you do what's right for you , and there's the universe is paying attention .

Jason Shelfer 9:51

Yeah , and if there's anything that anyone that needs it right now . I mean we're paying for a trip to Australia , so like I don't think it didn't cross my mind to scratch every one of those off and to just to hold on to them for two more nights and say , did we win ? You're not that whole ears and mouth Right ? It's like I thought about it and I was like you know what ? This is someone

Final Thoughts on Karma

Jason Shelfer 10:12

else's dream . So I was like let me just put this dream in someone else , in the cashier's hands , and see if they come back , oh , winners , winner , winner , chicken dinner .

Jason Shelfer 10:22

Thanks for joining us . Keep Living Lucky® , bye-bye .

Jana Shelfer 10:33

If the idea of Living Lucky® appeals to you , visit us at www . LivingLucky . com .