2017-03-27

man-waking-upLet me guess, the jackpot hit a record breaking amount and you have already envisioned how you will spend the millions of dollars. You probably haven’t even purchased a ticket, but once you’ve claimed your winnings you’ll buy your dream car and a great big house. Then reality check, it’s the morning after the Powerball number and you didn’t win. The reality of working for a living is put back into perspective and suddenly those premature plans become a forgotten dream.

As you drink your coffee, eat breakfast and plan out your day the blow of not winning a fortune begins to slowly hurt less and less. Yes, winning the lottery would have been a dream come true but with the fortune comes a lot of baggage.

When a Powerball check comes into your life, so does a long list of long lost friends and relatives that suddenly remember your existence. Emotional turmoil is destined to follow the string of friends and family that want a piece of the winnings. A lot of people may feel compelled to stroke a check just, while others stand their ground and create enemies. Then there are members that believe your stroke of luck is theirs as well. Ultimately, you’ll find that money is truly the root to evil because it creates problems that didn’t exist before.

Moreover, working for your earnings gives an individual a sense of pride that cannot be reproduced with lucky dollars. Yes, there are an endless amount of possibilities that come along with a Powerball ticket however along with the dollar signs come blinders. When you have put your blood, sweat and tears into your own investments you understand the repercussions of failure and possess a balanced mind frame. On the other hand, when the money is not produced from your own work then your outlook on failing isn’t so detrimental – in fact, you more accepting of failure. Your attitude will be perceived through your works.

And don’t forget that with money comes the responsibility of being rich. The stories of lottery winners who blew it all have become a common happening. I know what you’re thinking, “That would never happen to me.” That’s an easy comment to make when your bank account isn’t busting at the seams with zeros. Take single mother Sharon Tirabassi who had been on welfare for example, she won $10 million and spent it all in less than a decade. Or perhaps former Waffle House waitress Tonda Lynn Dickerson who refused to split her winnings with ex-colleagues that purchased the winning ticket with her. In Dickerson’s case, karma stepped in when a tax man forced her to pay $1,119,347.90 in taxes. How did that happen? Well Dickerson placed her winnings in a corporation and granted her family 51% of the stock – hence the qualifying tax.

Those two instances are just two of thousand of horror stories that occurred because someone won the lottery. The greed that is associated with money can bring out the worst in people and carry them down a lane that will eventually ruin the life entirely.

So next time you’re planning out your future lottery winnings, think about your life now and how blessed you really are. Living isn’t about the stuff you own or how many zeros are in your bank account. Instead living is about being genuinely happy and living a life that will bring you joy no matter how gloomy the bad days seem. There is more to life than money and living

more from beliefnet and our partners
Close Ad