If the Lottery Picked Me and I Picked the Lottery…
What would I do with this unfortunate fortunate moment?
Photo by Vitaly Taranov on Unsplash
My first reaction to winning the lottery would no doubt be denial.
I’ve read too many stories about lottery winners’ lives becoming unglued. They have new hangers-on, or they get caught up in their new purchasing power, or they forget what’s really important.
They go from victor to tragic sufferer in what seems like a moment.
Maybe they were playing the lottery on a whim or had a bad day at work and thought, “What if I could retire?” Who hasn’t had that moment?
So, upon winning the lottery, my first thoughts would be,
“Forget this even happened. Do as little as possible. Keep in the groove, however marginal that groove feels.”
After denial comes wake-up time.
My MBA would kick into gear, and I’d dust off the 10-step plan I’d used to help clients.
What were my needs?
What were others’ needs?
What good could I do?
Most importantly, could I keep my life together in all the ways that were important?
And like Winnie the Pooh, I’d “think think think.”
This would be my rough plan for the unfortunate fortunate moment.
Distribute some winnings to my kids
I would be very specific that this windfall was for the exclusive purpose of buying a home and funding any educational needs for my children and their children.
It would not be to entertain my kids with fancy trips or indulge them with new cars, neither of which do I think they’d fancy. It would be to reduce the stress of saving for home ownership and let them build toward a “what if” future they might secretly covet.
I had one of those moments.
What if I could devote my time to writing and not keep it as my side hobby?
Dedicate my time to breaking down our echo chambers
In 2024, one of my biggest sadnesses is the difficulty of having civilized and enlightening disagreements. We see the world differently, and it should be ok.
It’s why yesterday’s quote of the day by Timothy Leary resonated so deeply:
“You’re only as young as the last time you changed your mind.”
(Side note: Timothy Leary’s advocacy and use of psychedelic drugs probably helped him change his mind... a lot!)
To this end, if I had more time, which a lottery win would grant me, I’d start a pub called “Both Sides Now.” Issues of the day would be intelligently dissected from both sides. I’d add a weekly prompt where writers would be asked to take a position and make an argument for something they were staunchly against.
Alas, I have no time, and the emotional energy required would be huge.
Write your piece. Find your peace.
Years ago, I helped non-writer-types find some peace by writing on three topics:
Their unusual journey and what they discovered
What they took as a lesson from their mom. I learned how complicated those relationships are and the takeaways even more so.
Twenty-somethings finding their way in a complicated world, and their parents didn’t understand them.
I found great meaning in helping give voice to those who had much to say but lacked strong writing skills. They found great meaning, too.
I would like some “next chapters” for this type of endeavor, but my time is spoken for today, and I am working diligently to get my “Alfred Series” into readers’ hands. The series has a similar goal in that it seeks to promote inner peace, understanding, and health in our emotional lives, but with a light and humorous touch.
As my favorite protagonist, Alfred, says, “Ha ha moments are important.”
That would be my plan for the unfortunate fortunate event.
Most people would add travel to their plans, and I can see the point. Travel can be glorious and is like none other in opening our minds. But to be Jewish and traveling these days offers more pain than pleasure.
So I’ll stay local, read, write, and find ways to contribute to making our world a little kinder, a little better at listening, and a lot better at thinking we don’t own the answers to all that vexes us.
I feel the same way: winning the lottery would be just the instrument enabling me to take off the pressure of making a living or securing a future, the human (error-prone) way. Not to change me as a person. Then, with those needs covered, I’d have choices of what to create out of my life, what to give, what to contribute. Interesting mental exercise, which I only did as a teacher in my language classes, to practise conditionals :)
I think one of the oddest things about disagreeing is the fact that many people think that because they feel strongly about something that they must be in the right. So many people are passionately wrong and refuse to brook any discussion to the contrary