That Italian Lottery Joke

"There is a wonderful old Italian joke about a poor man, who goes to church every day and prays before the statue of a great saint, begging ‘Dear Saint, please, please, please let me win the lottery.’ Finally, the exasperated statue comes to life and looks down at the begging man, and says ‘My son, please, please, please buy a ticket.’ 
- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

I see this joke as a metaphor of how we deal with certain things in life...

The closest situation that I could compare it with is when we hope. We want so many things to happen to us without even realizing that all we ever do is hope. I have always believed that we will be blessed with what we yearn for, no matter what. But then again we don't just yearn for it. We have to earn it somehow and help trigger its fulfillment by doing our part. Hoping is a very positive behavior. But we have to couple it with positivity and with action for as long and as much as we can. And when we do that, we don't make a fool of ourselves by begging a Saint to help us win the lottery without getting ourselves a ticket first.

So...have you bought yourself a ticket lately?