Dear Warren,

If you happen to know Warren Buffet, please get this message to him, tell him it’s important.

Hey Warren, I had a perfect bracket. I believe you owe me a billion dollars. I know we aren’t on a first name basis, but we will need to be in order to work out the details. I go by McKinley, it’s nice to finally meet you.

Listen, it won’t be difficult and you won’t miss the money, you can just have your people talk to my people and they will sort it out for us. For reference, my “people” are me, my beautiful wife, and my three children who are 7, 4, and 1. You can take your pick as to which one you give it to. I’d recommend my wife over me any day. Also, if you choose the one year old I have some tips that might make that easier.

You can also give the money to my parents if you are worried about me being reckless. There’s no reason someone like me who didn’t “earn” the money can be trusted with an amount like that. Plus, my parents have worked much harder for it and deserve it more than I do.

Man, Warren, that’s a tough decision you get to make. You’ve made a living from tough decisions though, so I trust you to make the right call.

Let’s get our stories straight so you can see where I am coming from. My story is unbelievable. The odds of it happening how it has are 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808.

My perfect bracket was born of the Virgin Mary, I believe it’s “St Mary’s” nowadays (and they remain a virgin, damn UConn!). I spent about 35 seconds filling out the bracket and didn’t actually watch any of the games.

And it has been perfect. Bliss. Every, single, moment.

You see, I actually believed that my bracket was perfect and that sometime this week I would be sitting down with your people to figure out the details. I’m still looking forward to that meeting after this talk, because we have a lot to figure out and our world needs people like you to make a change.

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but things are pretty tough for most of us. I work in public education, specifically in suicide prevention and mental health, and I see that most of our fellow humans, even the little ones, are struggling. Our world needs healing.

So, I have an investment pitch for you. Hear me out…and don’t worry, it’s not a restaurant.

This investment is for you to trust people like me. I know we just met, but once I believed that I’d never have to worry about money again, my imagination ran wild. I’ll get to the numbers shortly, I know those matter to you. First, let me tell you about my dreams.

I dreamed about being able to enjoy the outdoors using high-quality equipment that is mindful of our environment, and I’d probably buy a Rivian. I dreamt of going on hundreds of worry-free vacations with my family and sending other families on their own vacations. I dreamt of leaving insane tips every chance I got and offering “scholarships” that people don’t apply for, because I’ve worked in schools long enough to know that the kids who most need an investment are those that aren’t quite sure of themselves. I dreamt of an investment in my children’s future…just enough for them to be able to do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing–I think those words are familiar to you. I dreamt of seeing this beautiful planet and connecting with people all over the world. I imagined my wife, who is a pilot, getting to take friends and loved ones in a plane of her own and to share her love of flying with people everywhere. I even dreamt of being able to afford tickets to Taylor Swift’s tour with Phoebe Bridgers, two beautiful, strong, creative, powerful women in one concert? Yes, PLEASE!

Most of all I dreamt of living in a modest home with enough space for a sustainable garden, a few chickens, a greenhouse, a dairy cow, a home gym, a treehouse for the kids, geothermal heating, and solar power. I would have so much fun, and I wouldn’t be wasteful. It would be a playground for the whole family.

Also, I wouldn’t quit working in public education because our kids need caring adults. However, I would give up everything that makes it feel like a job, mostly the meetings. I would give up competition, and trade it for compassion. I would give my full attention to the students, parents, and colleagues that surround me in the small, essential work in our schools.

I know you are good with math so you can see that my wildest dreams really wouldn’t even make a dent in a billion dollars. I know you’re wondering, like any good investor, what I’d do with the rest.

The rest I would give freely. Something tells me that’s what you want to do too. No contracts, no legal team, no interest. I would operate on trust alone. I would invest in people. People who truly want to share their gifts and make this world more beautiful. People that care about education, homelessness, health, mental health, art, and our environment. It wouldn’t go to any “parties” or other war-like tribes, institutions, or governments. No entity that still reinforces the story that any one person or form of life is separate from any other. It would all go to connecting our disconnected world. To healing the gaping, open wound of separation.

Also, this is important to know, because people like you will cringe at this…I wouldn’t “invest” any of it, at least using your definition of the word. Why grow beyond a billion dollars? Rather than watch it grow beyond use, I would replant it all around me. A billion is plenty, I have no need for the insatiable greed of a “return.”

This is why we are having this talk. If you can choose to trust me with one billion of “your” dollars I think you’d see a return that you will never be able to measure. You certainly wouldn’t see it back in your bank account, and I actually think you’d like that. Don’t you want to be free from those numbers that have dominated your life? To feel the joy of true generosity?

The most beautiful thing about giving your money in this way is that you would see your investment everywhere and in everyone. Never exactly sure if “you” did that. You would see it when an exhausted employee got a life-changing tip, when a family shared a beautiful moment on their vacation of a lifetime, when a school gave an opportunity to a kid who nobody else believed in, or when a homeless person found somewhere warm to sleep and nutritious food to eat. It would surround you everywhere you went because a billion dollars can go a long way in the right hands. I hate to break it to you, but yours aren’t the right hands. Neither are mine. This investment would be in all of our hands, shared through tiny, loving exchanges between people all over the world.

You’ve worked hard for this opportunity, and it truly is the opportunity of a lifetime. The market’s timing is exactly right and, let’s be honest, you really wouldn’t miss the money. If you choose to make this kind of investment, maybe some of the others who are hoarding their abundance will follow your lead. The churches, universities, governments, investors, and institutions who are still trying to grow their numbers on a screen. It’s time for change. Imagine the potential of thousands of investors…smart people like you…putting their time, gifts, love, and energy into making this world a more beautiful place. Imagine how much we could do, together, to heal ourselves, our relationships, our schools, our communities, and our environment.

Now that’s a future worth dreaming about. A shared abundance. A beautiful, connected world.

Let me get back to the what started all of this. My perfect bracket, born of St Mary’s.

If you remember, I actually believed for a minute that my bracket was perfect. Now I know that holding a belief in the beautiful abundance that life offers does not come from having more. More is never enough.

Believing in abundance means that everything we truly need is already within us and around us in every, single, moment. If all the people like you with such abundance made this change, you would no longer be prisoners to the infinite growth and death of imaginary numbers. Truly alive.

This is the part of my story that is unbelievable. I told you the odds earlier, which I know people like you care about.

My life is truly abundant, it’s perfect. I get to drive a 12 year old car to a free camping spot near our house any time I want. I have a tiny, beautiful yard and garden that we get to nurture. I have a $15 per month gym membership and it has everything I need. Most importantly I get to spend my mornings, evenings after work, and weekends with my beautiful wife and three children. I already have everything I could ever dream of.

I get to work in public education and I can choose to make every day fulfilling, fun, and exciting. I can give up my need to be noticed and focus on noticing students. I can give up competition altogether, and trade it for compassion. I can give my full attention to the students, parents, and colleagues that surround me in the small, every day work in our schools.

Everything I’ve ever needed is already right here. Even though you probably won’t give me “your” money, your bracket challenge gave me an infinite gift. I think that I might actually owe you for what this has given me, but you don’t really need “my” money or my gratitude.

You’ve given me the gift of healing, because once I believed I could have anything, I realized that I have everything. Here. Now. In every moment.