Because of the colossal odds that would have to be in your favour to win it, the lottery has become synonymous with the expression of taking a gamble, a real gamble where your chances of winning really aren’t in your own hands. As the saying goes however, “you can’t win the lotto if you don’t buy a ticket,” so you should definitely give it a pop, if only just to make sure you never have to live with all the “what ifs?” that come with never having at least taken a chance. There are a lot of stories of people who chose what turned out to be a winning set of numbers, but for some reason didn’t go ahead and buy the ticket. That’s a strong case for possibly the most impactful non-activity ever, which brings to light the question of what exactly one would do if they really did win the lottery. What would you do if you won the lottery? Like have you ever actually sat down and really thought about it?
Would you tell anyone about it, beyond your immediate family of course, and risk estranged relatives claiming a non-existent close relationship? Would you take your winnings as a lump-sum or would you rather prefer to have them paid out to you over your entire lifetime, so that you know you have a solid income for life? Would you immediately pay off all your bills, buy a new car(s) perhaps, buy a brand new home or upgrade? Would you take an extended holiday with the possibility of it turning into a permanent one? Would you quit your job and be a pain about it, sticking it to your boss as you hand in your strongly-worded resignation letter?
These things are important to think about, not because you’re banking on winning the lottery anytime soon, but rather because they reveal quite a lot about who you really are. For most people though, winning the lottery or experiencing an event in their lives which is akin to winning the lottery (like getting a windfall through inheritance, etc.) changes them for the better and only serves to positively highlight their true character. The true family person will likely take their time a bit and try to figure out what’s best for their family, much like how the an elderly woman from Texas in the United States admitted that at her age she didn’t really have many plans for such colossal amounts of money, so after giving all her grown children a share each, she gave much of it away to help around her own community.
As much as the exercise of just thinking about what you’d do if you won the lottery is perhaps a free lesson in proactive financial planning, with easy access now available to lottery draws all around the world, like perhaps playing the US Powerball Lottery while you’re in the UK for example, walking away with a life-changing amount of money is very much a possibility. Buy a ticket and stick to one set of lucky numbers if you have to, but if you do indeed have some spare cash on the side, the world’s lotteries are at your disposal. If you don’t win, you can take comfort in the fact that most lotteries run extensive charities, so at least your money is still going to good use. What if you actually won though?
