Thursday, January 20, 2011

The Lottery & Dreams

I'm not really a gambling woman, I don't enjoy trips to the casino, and I don't regularly purchase lottery tickets. It seems that I work hard enough for my money that I feel kind of connected to it and want to be wise with my cash. Recently, however, the Mega Millions jackpot hit $330 million, so I parted with some of my cash. I'm sorry to say that I didn't win anything with my ticket, but I feel like my money was well spent...

For a few dollars, I was able to dream about what I would do with the winnings: pay off the house, donate money to charities, travel, dream. One little lottery ticket (and one large jackpot) led me into multiple conversations with friends and family about what we would do if we were suddenly wealthy. Virtually everyone that I spoke with said that they would squirrel money away in a savings or other accounts, and splurge on travel or other luxuries.

In the few days between purchasing my ticket and the lottery drawing, I allowed my mind to wander... It was great! As we drove down the road, I would ask Lennie "what if we..." and I would spin stories and ideas about how we would help others or enjoy the bounty of lottery winnings. My random numbers may not have been drawn, but I certainly enjoyed thinking about what I would do with the winnings!