We have a list of good topics to write about this week. I have been working on the final goal of underpromising and over delievering and that should probably be the one to write about….but the lottery question is so much more fun! So here I go!
If I had won the lottery, it would defnately change my life in a material way. I would like to think that I would stay the same person and still have a close bond with my friends and family. I would like to use the winnings to make life a little easier for those around me as well as myself.
I always told myself that I would continue to work. I love teaching and it creates a wonderful sense of purpose. I have read that feeling needed and useful is the number one key to happiness. More than Money. Besides, I think I am pretty good at it and it can be fun. If I didn’t need the money though, I would definately like to do half time teaching and share the schedule with someone else so I could have more time for family and travel. Ken’s dream is still to be a professional golfer and to play on the tours, but he works so many hours he doesn’t have time to practice. If we didn’t have to worry about money, he could focus on his dream full time. Not worrying about money and teaching part time could enable me to actually join him Florida for a few months while he plays and I can get out of the Friggin’ New England winters!!! BRRRRR!!!
My biggest purchase would to be buy a nice big house overlooking the marsh and ocean on the Cape. I’m not a huge beach person, but I am always the happiest looking at the coast and just relaxing. Imagine waking to that everyday! It would be nice to splurge on a fancy weekend in New York City and take an adventure Safari in Africa, but I would most look forward to spending the money on Family, Friends and Charities. Treating Friends to a fun weekend, helping out a family member pay off debt, or placing a downpayment on someone’s home. Making sure our parents can retire and never have to worry about working in their retirement if they don’t want to or making sure someone has the opportunity to go to college.
There are so many wonderful charities to contribute to. There are some that I have given to before that I would just like to increase it a 100 times worth, or some I have never gotten around to contributing too.
I have donated old blankets to shelters and I would like to contribute donations to perfom surgeries and deliver medical attention to animals that need it and either have no owners or they can’t afford to pay. I have had fun putting together a Christmas for a little girl in my town with donations from the community, but that charity dried up last year due to so many families being in need and not enough money. So giving money to make sure that needy families have school supplies and new clothes at the beginning of the school year as well as a few nice christmas presents. Travel always seems to come up in my blogs, but I would like to encourage high school students or middle school students to travel and see other parts of the world in an educational setting. It is so expensive, that few kids can afford to go, but traveling to a different country can open their eyes to how much the world has to offer and how different it can be.
No matter how much money I have, I think I would like to focus on charities that have a direct effect on a person or animal that I can see. There are so many amazing medical charities for diseases and research, but I would like to focus on the individual person or place. I would rather send money to help out a struggling family dealing with cancer or to the ronald mcDonald house opposed to money to the american cancer society.
