This week, I bought one Powerball ticket, for the fun of it, while I was picking up the best fried chicken and macaroni and cheese in Virginia at Bennett’s Creek Farm Market. Don’t judge me — my other side was green beans, which is a perfectly acceptable vegetable.

I had just paid a dear sum to get my car keys out of the grasp of a mechanic, and I figured spending my last $2 on the temporary excitement of possibly becoming an instant billionaire couldn’t hurt. My chances of hitting it big were only 1 in 292.2 million, but my chances of breaking even, at least, were slightly better. You can’t win if you don’t play, right?

Needless to say, I didn’t match so much as one number. But that’s OK — the odds were against me, anyway.

As with so many things in life, it’s all about how you look at it. I have a husband I adore, a wonderful mother and grandmother in the area and other wonderful family, some great friends, reasonably good health, a job I enjoy, a car to drive, a warm place to sleep at night … the list could go on. I have about 1.6 billion reasons to love my life, and very few of them have dollar signs attached.

They say rich people don’t play the lottery. Which of those is the cause and which is the effect is up for debate. But I don’t need to play the lottery, either, because I’m rich, too.

If you’re feeling decidedly not rich today, I urge you to take stock of your situation. A lottery winner’s mentality comes from the inside, not from what’s in your bank account.

On another topic, how many of you have kept your New Year’s resolutions? I’ve learned that I rarely keep them, so I resolved not to make any this year. I’m just going to continue trying to exercise more and eat somewhat healthy (fried chicken and macaroni and cheese notwithstanding). It doesn’t matter how rich you are, monetarily speaking, if you don’t have your health. I’m doing everything I can to improve mine, both for now and in the future.