Can money buy you happiness?

I hope everyone is having a great start of the year. Since everyone is trying to stick to their resolutions, I thought of sharing an amazing story of a person which I can't resist.


This new year's eve we had a family get-together and we invited our relatives and family friends to dinner. While sharing some family moments together, I was stunned to hear that an Uncle of ours had won $2 million in a lottery in 1984. He was very casual while sharing it with us. I didn't believe it for a second because he is very down to earth and has never showed any signs of once being a millionaire. Infact, he is a very contented man and very much happy with his middle-class life.

He started telling us that how he spent his winning money by buying his favourite car and other things he liked. Now, after 31 years, he lives in an average house with his family working full time. He drives an average car and enjoys an average household income. What surprises me the most is - he is the most satisfactory person I have ever met.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT LOTTERY WINNERS
I was curious to know that how most of the lottery winners end up doing in their lives and I came across few interesting facts which are shared below:
  1. 44% of the winners lose all their money won in lotteries within 5 years. 
  2. 48% of the winners keep their daily job even after winning huge amount of money.
  3. There is only 50% chance that winners will be happy after winning the lotteries.
  4. 90% of winners lose their friends.
  5. 32% winners gain weight.
  6. 68% of winners keep playing the lotteries.
(source : therichest.com)
LOTTERIES IN INDIA
Although gambling is not legal in India (the Public Gambling Act of 1967) and you could be behind the bars if you try to do so, yet horse racing and lottery are the only legal channels of gambling system in India. Yes, betting on cricket is also illegal !

Gambling laws are entitled to be enforced by State Governments in India but Goa, Punjab and Sikkim are the only States which offer lotteries to their residents. Sikkim has come out with its online lottery operated by"Playwin" which is played by Indians throughout India.

MONEY VS HAPPINESS
Buying lottery is an addiction and if you win it, you'll definitely like to buy it again (referring to interesting facts about lottery winners #6). If you don't buy lotteries at all, you have the skill of self-control and you don't believe in spending hard earned money on gambling.

You can buy your favourite car or travel around the world but you cannot solve tensions in your family life (if any) or make real friends with money. If you are not good at managing finances, winning a lottery is going to make it even worse because internet is full of such stories of people who went riches to rags with no sense of managing their money.

The real happiness is earned when you are satisfied with what you have . Our uncle is probably now a satisfied person because he has seen the extremes of riches and losing it all too. In his own words, he says,"if you can win an unexpected money, always be prepared to lose it as well because it never belongs to you. If you earn it, you own it. "


8 comments

  1. Congratulations! Your blog post was selcted as one of the best picks for our Spicy Saturday Picks edition on February 20, 2016 at BlogAdda

    Please view your post here:
    http://blog.blogadda.com/2016/02/20/spicy-saturday-picks-february-20-2016

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's true, even if you don't know how to manage finances, a hard worker can loses it as well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. beautifully said. I absolutely agree with the wise words of your Uncle :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. From money we can buy things for life but not life or happiness that's so true. I really appreciate your opinion. Go ahead!

    ReplyDelete