What would you do with $1.3 billion? Would you buy an island, fly to Italy, buy a mansion or pay for school? $1.3 billion is a lot of money and with everyone out buying hundreds of tickets, your chances of winning decrease. The odds of winning Saturday's jackpot were one in 292.2 million. That's a really small percentage, yet people still cling to the hope that they will win. That they will win the money and be able to pay for their child's college or that new car they so badly need. But why do you want to win the Powerball? Why do you need the money?
I bet you believe the reasons you want to win are better than the person's next to you, but who actually deserves to win the money? Is it someone like Mother Theresa who would spend the money on the poor and donate all of it, or is it someone like a professional football player who already has millions of dollars? Who deserves it more than someone else and who has the right to judge who is more deserving?
The Powerball has sent millions of people to local gas stations to buy tickets, even with the small percentage of winning. So why do people buy a ticket? Why buy a ticket when you most likely won't win? Is it hope or you believing you're lucky? Is it because you think you deserve the money? I hate to be the one to tell you this, but no one deserves the money. Not you, your mom, your grandma or even your best friend. No one deserves $1.3 billion just because they bought the right ticket with the right numbers on it.
What will the money do to the person who wins? Many past winners admit that they live a carefree life full of private planes and yacht club dinners, but who has ever heard of a winner saying the money changed their life for the better? Who won and has said that the money helped them gain real friends who stuck around even when the money ran out? Who won and said that the money helped truly repair relationships with people they cared about? Who won and said that the money gave them real happiness? The type of happiness seeing your baby for the first time gives you. The type of happiness walking across a stage with a diploma in your hand gives you. The type of happiness you get when your love finally asks you to marry them. If the money isn't giving you real happiness, real friends or even a better character, then what is it doing to you?
I'm not going to lie, I've thought about buying a ticket and all the joy it would bring me if I won. I've thought about all the trips I could take and all the schooling I could pay for. I've thought about the clothes I could buy and how fashionable I could look. This is the wrong mentality. If you're buying the ticket for you and your benefit, how will you benefit? The only way you will benefit is monetarily, but not morally.
