Recently the Mega Millions lottery jackpot reached nearly a billion dollars. I think the Powerball was something like over 100 million dollars. So of course my husband suggested we should buy tickets for both.
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So I went down to the local store to take our chance at the winnings. I waited in line with everyone else who was vying for the life altering jackpot. My husband and I aren’t gamblers, so when I got up to the register, I requested and paid for just one ticket for each game. I know there are people who buy hundreds of tickets. Do you know the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot? According to the article, “The best strategies for winning the Mega Millions lottery, according to a Harvard statistician” by Kristopher J. Brooks on cbsnews.com, it is approximately one in 302.5 million. Those are terrible odds, but there is always a winner or sometimes several. I wouldn’t mind sharing that windfall.
As I drive home, the day dreaming starts. What would I do if we won? When my children were younger, we would often ask them what would they do if we won? We would have such interesting discussions about it. As the years passed, it was such a joy to hear their ever changing ideas and dreams as lottery jackpots would come and go, never winning. Yet, with each new ticket bought, our imaginations would ignite such wonderful ideas on what would we do if we won. Each of us would have our own proposal of spending the money. My husband with his logical ways would be more practical at first, like paying for colleges, future weddings, bills or fixing the house up. I always start off small saying I wouldn’t change much. I would get a cleaning person, a pool and perhaps a new car. My daughters would always go grand. Once they would start listing their ideas of such grandiose proportions, we would let our imaginations wander too. There would be trips and experiences around the world. Houses by the sea and in the mountains. High end shopping sprees for the girls and me. The list would be endless.
It is amazing what a tiny paper lottery ticket can evoke. It is the hope, elation and the wonderment the “what if” brings. It allows us to escape our realities that restrict us. Think of things we have never dreamed of before. At this point it is all fantasy as our minds wander to unlimited possibilities. I think that time between buying the ticket and announcing the prize winner is such a sweet spot.
When we learn we didn’t win. There is no shock, perhaps a fleeting tinge of disappointment. We knew it was a long shot. What we still have are our hopes and aspirations. The time talking with our children of ways to spend our future prize builds bonds and creates memories. It is not taken away with the loss of the lottery. As we press on in reality, stressing about bills and such, I can always get lost in my imagination of winning a mega lottery and floating in my pool that overlooks the ocean and the mountains. Perhaps, all this is worth more than winning that lottery?
Thoughts, comments or concerns?