Are you really really really sure you want to win the lottery???

We've been busy lazy... actually, I don't know what we've been in the last week or so.  Controlled chaos seems about right.  While in the midst of working on multiple posts, BGE's godmother chimed in on the lottery debate.  She did not confirm nor deny that it took her nearly two months to sober up after the night we debated this.  I'm going with 6 weeks to get sober, 2 week hangover.

All yours, my friend

Anyways, below is her take on the "are you sure you want to win the lottery?" debate, with some light editing and pics attached.  If you missed the original post, click here.

"....well if I won the lottery, of course I would!"

Then you asked if I REALLY want to win the lottery. "Hell, yeah! Who doesn't want to win the lottery?!?"

When I was told I would be laid off several years ago, I was worried... worried about what I would do with my time, worried about how we would pay the bills, and worried about when I would have another job.  But then the time came and I was laid off, and I LOVED it!  I was shocked!  I didn't sleep in, and eat bon bons and watch soap operas all day.  I got up every morning and walked the dogs, came home, and got ready for my day. 

I kid, I kid...

 Then some days I would sit and plan the grocery list incorporating my coupon research so that we could save as much as possible even if it meant stopping at several stores in the same day, but I enjoyed it! Some mornings I was getting ready and heading to the local food pantry to fill grocery carts full of food that needy families would be picking up soon. And other days it was not showering or getting ready at all so that I could clean the house from top to bottom. Dinners were planned a week in advance and prepared and ready to eat when my husband got home from work. 

After several weeks, finances started to get tight and bills got behind. I eventually got another job and I'm thankful to be able to have what we have and do what we do, but to this day my answer to whether or not I want win the lottery will always be yes. I realize there may be an entirely different set of problems to deal with in that situation, but I want that opportunity. I see winning the lottery as a way to own my own time, spend as much time with my family as possible, not miss out on the important things in life, and to give and provide to those less fortunate. I don't think of winning as my way to the luxurious life of over-spending and over-indulging. Will I do that from time to time?? Of course! Who wouldn't? But is that my reason for wanting to win and would that become my focus? No. And I feel and hope that I speak that for the majority of people. 

I would probably buy a few nice things, that I otherwise wouldn't have, but I would set the majority of the money aside. Thanks to my wonderful Michigan State education (LB Note - BGE is gonna be a Michigan boy), I learned that I could put most of it in an account and live my daily life off the interest alone. That would become my new annual income. I would have the time and money to go visit the village in Haiti where my sister lived and where her husband is from to help out however I could. The money would allow me to look beyond the needs and wants of my family way more than I do now so that I could help others more than I do now. 

Do I worry about raising children with that much money? No, not at all. We are all privileged now in our daily lives whether we realize it or not. There’s always someone that has more than we do, but always someone that has less as well. I don't believe that raising an appreciative, genuine, hardworking child has to do with how much money the child grows up having or not having. Nor do I believe that money is the root of all evil. I think the way money is handled and regarded is completely separate from how a child is taught to be respectful and loving and giving towards others. I would hope that whether I continue in my current middle-class state or win millions in the lottery, that my kids would still know and appreciate hard work and not take things for granted. I think that is a struggle for all parents no matter the income level. We want them to have everything we had or more, but we don’t want them to be spoiled or act entitled.


Who knows, maybe one day I’ll win that lottery and re-write this entire thing. Maybe I will think completely differently after going through that, but then maybe not. I realize I live a pretty good life and although there are always the “what-if’s” and “if only’s”, no matter where we are in life, we need stop and take a minute to appreciate all that we already have  (LB Note - Amen.). This is how I feel when asked the questions “do you want to win the lottery and what would you do if you won the lottery?”, but it’s not something I sit and think about on a daily basis or even strive towards. (LB Note - I hope not, especially if we drink the way we did that night).  Would I like to win? Yes, but you have to buy a ticket to even have a chance, and I can’t tell you that last time I did that.  =)

Besides the beautiful prose, having a 2.0 on the lottery lets the Million Dollar Man send us off today.  Next time you hear from us, you'll find out if Mojo thinks I would have made a good soldier.  Hasta.