An Easy Life?
Lottery Winner!
He sits on the balcony surveying his domain. He takes a sip from his glass of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. As the sweetness of the wine touches his throat, he thinks about how shitty life was for him, before winning the lottery.
Earlier he’d been watching the Cycling Road World Championship in Austria, feeling dumbfounded. Six and a half hours of hard racing to culminate in a 28% mountain climb stated as being “worse than hell.” Absolutely extraordinary. None of that for him, he preferred, an easy life.
Into his second bottle of wine now he was feeling pleasantly drunk. He burped and felt the familiar acid reflux he’d become accustomed to. He’d also noticed his jeans had become a little tight around the waist of late, no problem, larger jeans would sort that. A quick swig of antacid medication, before the pizza delivery, would also be wise.
The Belief in The Lottery
If you play the lottery you might be a little surprised by the following revelation; yet you might also, be thankful. There are approximately 1,700 people killed on British roads each year. With there being approximately 31,000,000 registered UK cars, we can be reasonably assured, the chances of being killed whilst driving, are quite slim.
In the 23 years the lottery has been running it’s made 5,000 millionaires. During the same period of time, 39,100 people have lost their lives, in motoring related accidents. In the UK just over 31,000,000 people play the lottery every week. Put simply, if you believe in the lottery, it’s probably time to get off the roads.
Selling Illusions and Dreams
Selling illusions has become a very popular game. In fact we’re sold illusions by the bucket load every single day. Oh yes, bucket loads of nonsense, stuffed up us, in lots and lots of differing ways.
The selling power of the lottery is of course based on the erroneous belief money buys happiness. An illusion. It also works through the belief becoming rich is difficult. Some find becoming rich a byproduct of being happy! Have you ever wondered how?
Money is a great facilitator to experiences that might enhance life, but it will never buy happiness, per se. How we find happiness is a state of mind and a belief in itself. What to ponder here, is the paradoxical nature, of how playing the lottery, actually reduces happiness.
The Facts
Each week millions of people lose at the lottery. We could say playing the lottery is a losers game. The reality is, each week, people who believe money buys happiness, are spending what they can ill afford, on an illusion fuelled by dreams.
I follow Richard Branson’s twitter account and noticed his most recent endeavour in this tweet. I can tell you for a fact, you don’t need to be a millionaire, to afford a bottle to piss in! Or for it to save your life. As Mr Branson will surly tell you, happiness lies in creativity, success, and living life to the full. Although, he’s also very good at selling the general public, what they believe in. Or perhaps that’s just the girl taking advantage. Here’s the story, make up your own mind.
Suffice to say, stop spending money on illusions, and find happiness the easy way. If we do nothing about them, dreams remain in the world of fantasy. Live well and start climbing mountains. It’s the only real way to gain respect.