If I Won the Lottery ...

Okay this is something everybody talks about; “What would you do if you hit the lottery?” There are several ways to look at this I think. For most people, they are likely referring to hitting a “big” lottery, to the tune of 100 million dollars or more. And for most of us that would be more than enough money to do pretty much anything we wanted, short of building a working castle.

Hmmm, Castle Horton. Wait .. I think I need to hit a bigger lottery than 100 million, lol :)

Everybody I’ve ever known always talks about giving money to their family and friends. I would do that too. But people can be awkward about accepting gifts regarding money. I respect that. Money is a complex issue in our society.

For me, money is simply a vehicle. It really means very little, to nothing to me other than a means by which we accomplish some things in life. The accomplishments are worth far more than the means that bring them, in my opinion.

So if for whatever reason, I hit the lotto and come to you wanting to pay off everything you owe it’s not because I’m trying to look cool or buy your loyalty. It would be because I like you a lot and want to see you “free” to do whatever it is that is most important to you. If you know me you should know THAT about me already and if you haven't figured it out yet then, "much you have yet to learn of the living Rob my young padawan".

So there is my rant on gift giving and money and stuff like that there. I’m a cheap date basically, haha :)

I just like to enjoy life with those friends and family around me. If that enjoyment we share together is expensive, that’s fine. If it’s cheap, that’s fine. Either way is coolio as long as I get to hang out with those friends and family. Their presence in my life is far more important, having more worth, than any stack of printed paper on which we humans have placed some agreed upon trading value. Ok, really I’m done ranting, ha!

Anyhow, just for fun, here are "some" of the things I think I’d do.

If I won the lottery I would:

• Offer to set some friends and family, both far and near, financially free. See rant above, lol
• Set up a yearly payment plan to each of those friends and family to either replace their salary or just so they could have extra pocket money.
• Set up a yearly payment plan to several important charities of my choosing.
• Ask my wife if she really, really wants to open that cake-making business that she has talked about and let her do it. I’d be happy to be a stay-at-home Dad and let her chase a dream in return for all the years she’s been mom/wife and sacrificed so much to take care of our family.
• Set up college funds for Josh and the future kiddo.
• Fix up the insurance/retirement/final arrangements that everybody always puts off until the last minute.
• And for me personally, I’d like to have a nice woodshop area and also I’d like to buy another set of drums to replace those I sold years ago.
• Then of course, there would be the “boring” stuff of hiring an accountant for investment advice and all that rot. Blah, blah, blah, right?
• Then I expect before Heather and I got TOO busy we’d want to gather up some of those friends and family, and pay for some travel together to just hang out. Maybe plan yearly trips/visits with them or go places together and do stuff. I could get really excited about that.

What I WOULDN’T do any longer, which at one time I dreamed of doing, is buy a bunch of crap, lol :) I have very much learned the lesson that “having stuff” isn’t what it’s about. I'm no longer one of those people who'd want to own their own private state like Montana, move to the middle and live there alone. Ok maybe if all my friends and family wanted to go to :) lol

Having the kind of money I’ve discussed above would be lovely. It would bring a type of freedom to my life and other’s that we only dream of enjoying. Here comes the big “but” though.

But this isn’t what it’s all about for me. I heard somewhere that if you’re not happy with the money you have and the life it brings, then having more money won’t fix those problems for you. And I think that’s accurate. Be content where you are. This is the only life you have.

So if you’re sitting around waiting for your “ship to come in”, consider this. Maybe your ship isn’t coming in. Maybe you’re already on it. If so, well then what?

As stated, this is the only life you have after all. Don’t waste it by hoping for things you may never have while ignoring the very things with which you’ve been blessed.

However, if you win the lottery, I hope we're good friends :)