I have always pondered over this question. In fact, I answered a version of this for the last bloganuary as well. It has also been a thought exercise I have indulged myself in quite a bit.
My wife is a big fan of lotteries. She purchases lottery tickets whenever possible. In Kochi, you find folks selling lotteries all around. Archana usually purchases tickets to help them, and she wittily makes up elaborate scenarios where we win the lottery and we would together make up elaborate schemes of how we would spend the money.
Back when I was practically penniless, I also used to conjure scenarios where I get a windfall of money and think of ways I would use it. But that has all changed now, as I have become a more mature with age and life experience.
If I end up getting a lottery, I would most probably reject it and ask the authorities to pick the next winner. If it is a fairly large amount (to the tune of millions of dollars perhaps), I would probably use a fraction to clear off my debts, and find a way to use the remainder of the funds for public good. I would set up a charity for this purpose, OR donate the rest to individuals who genuinely need help or donate it to other charities, OR a combination of all these perhaps.
The main reason behind my rationale is that I would not want any money that I have not worked for.
I would rather work hard and earn money myself. I have a definite financial goal – a particular number in terms of the money that I want to earn. And I plan to earn it through my hard work, and by using money smartly. I don’t want to earn a penny more or a penny less. Even if a lottery winning helps me achieve this number, I would politely reject it, because I would like to earn it through my own hard work.
The caveat here is that the world is becoming an unpredictable place, especially when it comes to managing finances. The safest investment options of today might come crashing down tomorrow, as we have learned multiple times over. In this context, rejecting a windfall might not seem like the best of ideas, especially when there is every possibility that one’s hard earned money could turn to dust at the drop of the hat.
Nonetheless, this is an ideological perspective I will always choose to pick. If my finances turn to dust at the drop of the hat, I will accept it and find new ways to earn money. You play with the cards you are dealt with, life is unfair. As long as I will have reasonable health and mental prowess, I am confident in my abilities to earn and make a living.
As I had mentioned in my other blog post, where I pondered what I would do with a billion dollars, there is a red herring in all these ideas. It is the simple fact that like power, money corrupts people. I would say all these things, but when I actually get the prize, its lure might be too tempting for me to say no to it. We are all fickle human beings after all. I might vociferously argue now citing a hundred reasons why I would not do it. But I have read enough history and seen enough human lives to know things don’t work that way.
Nonetheless, I do hope I have the conviction and the will power to battle all these temptations and stand my ground, should I win that lottery!
This post was written as part of the Bloganuary challenge of WordPress.com. Bloganuary is a month-long challenge, where bloggers are challenged to write a new blog post every day, based on a daily writing prompt. You will need a WordPress.com account to get the prompts, but you can blog on any platform of your choice – OR even journal privately. Oh btw, there is no bloganuary police – so you can pick your own prompts if you wish to!
Hari Shanker R 
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