Money

The Reality of Being a Lottery Winner

February 13, 2017 Jayne7 Comments

When people think about winning the lottery, they imagine that such a windfall will be an instant fix for all of their problems and that it will enable them to turn every single one of their dreams into reality in a blink of an eye. However, the reality of being a lottery winner is not exactly in line with the monumental expectations that people have from it. Without any shadow of a doubt, winning a lottery jackpot is nothing short of amazing, but players should be aware of all the aspects surrounding this huge stroke of lottery luck. In this article, we will tell you about the positive points of being a winner, as well as the negative ones so that you can get a complete idea on the matter. When buying a ticket to your favourite lottery, you build up dreams; but the reality of a win might prove overwhelming.

The Initial Enthusiasm

Winning the lottery is one of the best possible things that can happen to any of us and the few that have actually gotten to experience that have all said that the initial enthusiasm is positively overwhelming. What would you do with a million dollars? What about two, or ten, or one hundred? What do you do if you had more money than you could spend in an entire lifetime?

The first things that come to the mind of the winners are the fact that they will never have to depend on a job ever again and that all of their pre-existing debts can magically be sponged off into oblivion. This is a very relaxing and encouraging thought that causes an instant burst of massive enthusiasm that makes them feel like they could do absolutely anything.

“We couldn’t believe our luck when we realized that we had matched all seven numbers, we had to pinch ourselves.”, said Dave and Angela Dawes about their £101,000,000 win in the EuroMillions lottery. Dave announced his immediate retirement during the lottery win press conference and then the couple started planning the extravagant wedding they had always dreamt of.

Making Those Dreams Come True

From fancy sports cars to luxurious vacations and all the things that money can buy, getting your hands on a lottery jackpot can put virtually any material desire within your reach. As such, splurging on those millions can be a very exciting ride. In fact, it is possibly the best part about winning the lottery because it makes anything you’ve ever wished for achievable with no effort at all.

While most lottery winners spend their money on luxury items and glitzy gadgets, some have taken this to the next level. Some of the most outrageous purchases include TV shows, weather stations, and even land on the Moon, because lottery jackpots seem limitless.

It is essential that this remains only a passing phase because turning it into a lifestyle can prove disastrous to even the biggest of lottery winners. Quite a few people who have won enormous lottery jackpots have ended up spending their money on an unsustainable luxury lifestyle, which rendered them bankrupt before they got a chance to realize it.

Putting the Money to Good Use

While most lottery prizes can provide a very comfortable lifestyle for their winners for the rest of their lives, getting used to first-class living can prove to be much more expensive than it appears initially. Even the largest jackpots will eventually run out if the winners do not have a long-term plan for their newly-found fortune.

This is the main reason why it is crucial that lottery winners seek financial guidance from a professional who can help them develop this long-term plan that could ensure that they are able to maintain their wealth. Investing part of the money wisely can lead to thriving business projects that will make winners feel fulfilled and provide them with a solid financial reassurance.

Getting Used To A New Social Status

Winning the lottery will undoubtedly change a person’s lifestyle and with this, it will bring about a brand new social environment. Winners should expect to receive countless requests for financial support not only from friends and family, but also from strangers.

This is bound to have a significant effect on the psychological status of winners because the vast majority of these requests will be dramatic and even aggressive. Winner’s guilt is almost an inevitable stage, which is why it is highly recommendable that lottery winners see a psychologist while they go through all the changes that come with overnight wealth.

All in all, winning the lottery can prove to be quite the modern fairytale it appears to be, as long as the winners remain grounded and take the time to develop a plan for their future. By keeping these essential guidelines in mind, they can use their money to fuel the best possible version of their lives and make all the plans that they have envisioned for themselves come true.

Nurturing Their Dreams

April 22, 2014 Jayne7 Comments

When I was a kid, I was often asked what I wanted to be when I was older. I was a relatively intelligent child and achieved well at school, so from a very young age there were a lot of expectations piled upon me from parents and teachers. Eventually, I passed my 11+ and was sent to a grammar school, where instead of being the brightest in my class, I was one of many clever girls and I hovered somewhere around the middle, in terms of achievement. It was drummed into us from the beginning that we had to constantly have our eye on the distance – end of year exam results dictated which GCSE options we were allowed to take, and we’d need to choose the right GCSE’s to allows us to take the A-Levels we wanted, which in turn were for the purpose of gaining access to the right degree course at the right university.

I was, and still am, a fairly shiftless person. My big dream when I was little was to be an Astronaut – sounds far fetched, but I intended to join the RAF out of sixth form and gain University sponsorship from them, with the hope of going on to train to be a pilot. Once I was told that I had zero chance of flying a plane because of my horrendous eyesight, I went into something of a tailspin. I could never really pinpoint what I wanted to be, and the thought that my career would define the rest of my life never sat well with me anyway.

I can’t help but wonder if my childhood intelligence (which, I have to say, seems considerably dulled by age) is part of the problem. I remember, for a long time, thinking that I’d be a hairdresser when I got older, except when I expressed this to my parents, I was told “You’re too clever to be a hairdresser”. This became a running theme in my adolescence and my passions were trampled under the weight of what I ‘should’ have been doing with my brain. Drama became my new passion and I was pretty good at it, too. I’m fairly extroverted and love performing but once again, it wasn’t considered cerebral enough. I was allowed to take Drama at A-Level, but only as a concession because I took four other ‘serious’ subjects (Chemistry, Biology, English Literature and English Language).

As it stands, I flunked out of sixth form; the mounting pressure got too much and I found myself being anywhere but the lessons I was supposed to be attending. I can’t help but wonder if I’d have been more inclined to attend if I’d not been steered towards subjects that I didn’t really want to take?

Sausage is an incredible kid, with a great imagination, huge intellect (she’s currently reading books at home which are for 8-year-olds, because her school books aren’t challenging enough) and artistic flair. She’s got the potential to be anything she wants to be, but I remind myself almost daily that the key part of that sentence is “SHE WANTS”. We spend so much time telling our kids that they can be anything they want to be and then second guessing their choices because they don’t sit well with our plans for their lives and it’s about time we stopped being so bloody arrogant.

Just this morning, Sausage told me that we wanted to be a nail technician and masseuse. One side of my brain said “That won’t earn you much money. You’ve got so much more potential than that. Why don’t you do that as a hobby, instead?”, but I managed to stop myself from saying it out loud. I adjusted my brain and instead thought “If that’s what makes you happy, then I’ll support you”. And, isn’t that what’s important? Supporting our kids in their choices and nurturing their happiness?

It is to us, at least.

Life

“Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.”

October 13, 2010 Jayne3 Comments

I had a dream.

Not a particularly profound one, in the great big Dr. King scheme of things, but it really shook me up.

I should probably set the scene.

On Monday, I spent the afternoon cooking. I made a chicken soup from the chicken that was leftover from the previous days roast, and I also made a beef stew as we had company coming for dinner on Tuesday (and besides, I always think a stew tastes better the day after you cooked it). Oh and I also attempted to make bubble and squeak from the veg, also leftover from the roast.

So anyways, I cooked these lovely dishes and then sat down and thought “You know what? I don’t feel like eating ANY of the meals I have just made”. So my husband and I did the naughty thing and ordered a takeaway, and 30 minutes later, a bucket of fried chicken turned up on my doorstep.

I feel I should emphasize at this point, Sausage was fast asleep in bed when we indulged ourselves in our illicit chicken eating. I may treat my own body like shit, but I try not to poison my kid too.

So, that night, I had lots of vivid, and some fairly disturbing dreams, and this one in particular was the worst.

In the dream, I was happily sitting on my sofa, eating my fried chicken, when I looked down and noticed that my outer body had gone see through, but I could see inside my veins and arteries, and could see the chicken that I was eating being turned straight into oozing fat, which was coarsing through and coating my vascular system.

Now, I may only be one year into my psychology degree, but I think I can fairly accurately assess that this was an anxious/guilty response to my earlier indulgence, but it raised a lot if internal questions.

I’ve been overweight, on and off, for most of my life. I’ve never been a particularly active person and I love my food. I love food on any occasion, to cheer me up, to celebrate, to pass the time, all of the usual ‘bad-relationship-with-food’ cliches you can think of. And I know I’m fat, I know I’ve gone up 4 dress sizes in four years. I’m guessing I would not be diabetic now if I had looked after myself during and after my pregnancy. I know that my weight causes me many mental and physical issues.

So why, then, can’t I just put down the pie, get off my arse and do something about it?

I often look at other fat people and think “Wow, they must be so stupid if they don’t realise that greedy+lazy=heavy”. But, hey, I’m not stupid, and I still can’t make the connection.

I think the biggest fears for me are the changes that I will have to make. I won’t be able to sit and eat a pint of ice cream in the evenings, I won’t be able to spend my days being sedentary. I’ll have to give up my precious food crutches and move around.

But why is this so scary, when the results will be so worth it?

I always say “Oh, I don’t make excuses for my weight, I’m just greedy and lazy”…but in saying this, am I not just making different excuses? By saying greedy and lazy, I’m still quantifying my behaviour, just in a different way.

All I know is, something’s got to give, because I want to ensure that I’m the best Mum I can be to Sausage, and I want to have as much time on this planet to enjoy being her Mum as possible.

*Goes and dusts off the gym shoes and Zumba DVD*