If you had the good fortune to win a good fortune

Who among us hasn't dreamed about winning that massive PowerBall lottery and having our picture and name printed on the front page of the PowerBall website and in our local newspaper?

You would be the envy of your friends and neighbors... friends soon to be lost... and neighbors soon to be gone. For surely if you were to win millions of dollars you could afford better friends and a house in a nicer neighborhood. Life would be complete with all the luxuries... new cars... a boat or two... a country club membership... vacations on a whim. Ah yes, life would be good.

Would it? To say life would be so much better is to say that your current life is really that bad. Is it? Sure some things could be better in every person's life, but is it so bad that you would be willing to throw it all away and start over. If you were to be 'blessed' with the good fortune to win a good fortune, your life would change significantly and not necessarily for the better.

How do you think your friends would feel about you becoming an instant gazillionaire? Think they would be happy or jealous? As you tell them about your new house, your new car, your new boat (or two), and your vacations on a whim do you think they are going to be happy or jealous?

I had a friend once tell me that if he won the PowerBall the first thing he would do is share his winnings with all his closest friends. Besides wondering if I had treated him well enough to be on that list, I was also curious as to why he would be so generous. His explanation made a lot of sense. He believed that if he won the lottery he would find himself alienated and isolated from his friends because he would now have money to buy anything he wanted and do anything he wanted (like golf every day). But his poor friends (literal use of the word poor) would have to still drag themselves out of bed and schlep off to work every day, leaving the rich guy all alone. If his friends were equally as wealthy, they'd be in a position to quit their jobs and do fun things together. Once he explained it, it made sense. I now treat him much better... and remind him twice a week to buy his lottery tickets.

I buy lottery tickets once in a while but I'm not very good at remembering to do so. Once, when I was about 19 years old I dreamed I won the lottery. When I woke up I remembered the numbers and wrote them down. I played the lottery with religious conviction for about a year. When I didn't win, I started losing interest and my money seemed to be needed for more important things. Then, one evening I was watching the news and they flashed the winning lottery numbers on the screen. Five of the six numbers were my dream numbers. But I hadn't played them. It was a $100,000 mistake. I remember thinking at the time about all the things I could have done with that kind of money... a car... beer... a vacation... a HUGE party for my friends. If I were to come into that kind of money today (30 years later) the list would surely be different... paying off debt... kids' college education... saving for retirement... and donations to charity would be on the list now.

When people think about what they would do with lottery winnings, their minds go to the most pleasant of places. This is natural, I guess. I have done the same. However, there is that dark side of wealth too. The 'money is the root of all evil' point of view. The 'money can't buy you happiness' perspective. It is true that new found wealth can, in many cases, create many problems, especially if the recipient is immature or bored.

Statistically speaking, you're more likely to get struck by lightening than to win the lottery. So in that regard, you should not worry about how winning millions of dollars will change your life.

Sure... think about it once in a while... then get back to enjoying the life you already have and be thankful you're not burdened with all the problems that excessive money brings.

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