Lotto Craze

Yesterday had lots of interesting moments: My son and I are both sick so we stayed home and spent some quality time, my parents came over to nurse us to health (I'm so blessed by this!), and my husband got to reconnect with an old friend who was in town.

Oddly enough, the biggest theme of the day was the big Powerball Jackpot.  Let me begin by saying that I honestly don't believe that I've ever bought a lottery ticket for myself.  Nor do I have a desire to buy a lottery ticket. In full disclosure, I have bought lotto tickets for friends and family as gifts - especially scratch-offs.  This probably makes me the minority, but I'll do my best to explain my rationale:

1. I'm totally satisfied, and have been for quite some time.  My family and friends are healthy, close by and always there for me.
2. I look at everything I get as icing on the cake, a gift from God
3. If I won the lotto, I wouldn't know what to do with the money besides give most of it away to people/organizations who really need it.

I'm fortunate enough to love my job and my life as is.  I would not want to quit my job if I won the lotto because I enjoy the connection and challenge that it gives me.  We would love a cottage on the ocean some day, but I look forward to working on that goal over time.  It'll be that much sweeter once my dream comes true, and I'm confident that it will.

I'm not passing judgement on people that play the lotto.  I love people who play the lotto!  Both my dad and husband bought a lotto ticket yesterday.  They are dreaming big and that's fantastic.  My concern is that many people who play the lotto think that huge amounts of money will bring them happiness, but that's just not the case.

Michael Norton, associate professor at Harvard Business School and co-author of Happy Money:  The Science of Smarter Spending said "Research shows that the impact of additional income on happiness begins to level off around $75,000 of income - but people keep trying to make more and more money in the mistaken belief that their happiness will continue to increase". 

I was watching the news last night, and there was a report about a Bangladesh sweatshop fire that killed over 100 sewing operators making 18 cents an hour.  This is the US equivalent of making 33 cents an hour.  It brought to mind a lyric in the song Ain't No Reason by Brett Dennen -"Slavery stitched to the fabric of my clothes".

It's important to keep some perspective and understand the realities of the world we live in.  How would your life be different if you spent more time counting your blessings rather than counting your cash?