Thursday, August 22, 2013

Article #257 Lottery Chances



            Everyone dreams of winning the Publishers Clearing House prize or the lottery and a guaranteed income of 370 million dollars after taxes. This could be a responsibility and a trial. The latest winner was an 84 year old woman. Think of the problems she now faces with her relatives wanting a share of her good luck plus many in the general public eager to tell her their sad tales and needs for assistance. Her life will never be the same again, although she might want to return to simpler but poorer times of struggling to get by with just her social security check. She can’t live long enough to enjoy her good(?) luck at her age.
            Somehow money has become the goal or standard of how society judges if your life is successful. Comparing yourself with a neighbor who has more toys than you do: a swimming pool in their backyard, a race boat in the driveway not to mention snow mobiles or four wheelers and HUGE recreational vehicles that cost as much as a normal house is useless. Where does it all end? Perhaps in bankruptcy or depression as greediness never was happiness. Achieving and buying more and more is thought to bring momentary pleasure, but real happiness is based on something different: serving and loving others, helping those less fortunate, etc.
            So, the next time you think of buying a lottery ticket or visiting the casinos in Las Vegas to gamble hoping to get RICH, stop and evaluate Is money really the object of your existence? If it isn’t, then why the fascination for so many? What should/could be the best use of a person’s time and efforts, perhaps other loftier goals than sudden riches? How about world peace or family harmony? All things that can’t be purchased with money.
            I knew an individual who was quite well off financially because he had carefully saved every extra penny. When he died, he couldn’t take any of his money with him, not a red penny. How much more fulfilling his life could have been, if he had invested his time and resources in connecting emotionally with his family. I do appreciate the good he did for many by loaning his money (with interest) to help others on major projects like down payments on cars or houses or education; but he missed the important point of life––family relationships. NEXT TIME: Improve Relationships.