I'm sure most people do not come across large, lump sums of money very often. Imagine what you could do if you won the National Lottery. You could buy a new house with your own private pool, or buy that brand new stylish car that you've wanted. Or even go on your own dream holiday. I'm confident we can all think of something that we long to have. However, is winning the National Lottery a dream come true? Or a disaster waiting to happen? Would the massive amount of money magnificently mangle your life?
In the National Lottery, tickets are sold at many venues throughout the UK and usually cost around one pound. All you have to do is select seven numbers from one to forty nine. You would then watch the draw of the numbers on television, the more numbers you match up, the more money you get and if you manage to get all seven numbers, you win the jackpot. However, the chances of you winning the jackpot are usually around fourteen million to one and yet people try and try again. So if there are that many people playing the lottery, surely winning a large amount of money is very desirable? After all, you can do whatever you like with the money and you can even donate some of it to charity.
There was an occasion where no-one had won the jackpot in the space of three weeks and so the total jackpot was around twenty-two million pounds. A wealthy man made an arrangement with the National Lottery to purchase the fourteen million lottery tickets, at one pound each that made every possible combination of numbers. This would mean one of the sets of numbers would win him the jackpot, and give him a profit of eight million pounds. During that week, someone else bought a ticket with the jackpot numbers and was eligible for the money, so that week they had to split the money in two. Meaning that the man had actually lost three million pounds whereas the other person won eleven million pounds from a one pound ticket!
So, what are the negative points of winning large sums of money? Or are there actually any at all? Consider the example of you and four other friends purchasing five lottery tickets, and you agree that if one of you should win money, you will split it up evenly among yourselves. If one friend wins, say, ten thousand pounds, that friend may now feel that because they choose the winning the numbers, they should get at least a majority share of the money. This may lead to an argument because you had arranged that you would share it evenly. This may lead to a break up of a friendship, something that we have been told many times, that money cannot buy.
Another point to consider is would you carry on working or not? It may seem ideal to never have to work again but how would you fill your day? Would every day seem like a holiday? I think this would be fine for a while but you would have to have something to fill your life.
Another important factor to take into consideration is that, if you were to become the winner of a large amount of money such as a few million pounds, you may want to give money to friends and family and leave some as inheritance. However, deciding who to give it to could cause more problems. Would other relatives become a little annoyed or even jealous that you did not give them any money? Friends and family may notice you have changed. You may feel you are better than they are, you may move to a "better" area to live. These are only a few factors to consider if money changed your life, but could it change it for worse?
If you do manage to match up, say, four of the numbers, you may be eligible for a cash prize of three thousand pounds, enough to perhaps buy a new kitchen or convert an attic into another bedroom. Even securing yourself from the increasing importance of the “credit crunch” as the price of living in the UK is rising. It may also be the life saver for some people, if they have recently lost a job and decided to try their luck at the National Lottery.
In conclusion, I think perhaps a small amount of money will not do you any harm but as we see all too often, people can become ruined by their greediness for money. I think that it is a person's attitude towards money that is really important, for example, Bill Gates owns a five billion dollar business, yet I don't think that money rules his life. I think money could rule the lives of people whose character and personality could affect their attitude to their money and how they handle it.
