Then What?

JOYPEACE

========== What if you won the lottery? What if you won a big one, like 100 million or so? What would you do? Let's go down the usual list. Pay off the home (no make that buy a mansion - cash). Buy several exotic cars Buy clothes Travel to exotic places Hire servants (maids, chefs and chauffeurs) Take care of relatives (mama at a minimum) Invest Then what? What do you mean "Then What?" I hear many of you asking, "Isn't that enough? How can there be a "then what" after all of that?" You see people; it's the "then what" stuff that makes the real difference in life. All of the stuff on the above list, you will get tired of in six months or less. The excitement will wear off. You will get bored. People will be after you for your money. You will get paranoid. You will discover relatives that you didn't know existed or at least you hadn't heard from in years. They all will want one thing and it won't be your companionship. So, you will get paranoid, as everyone wants your money. Then what? We often make the mistake of assuming that money will solve all of our problems. Money will only solve money problems. In my experience in business and in ministry, I usually find that it's the "other stuff" that's the real problem, not money. Often the "other stuff" is the reason for the money problems. Let's start with the list of what you would do if you won a big lottery and I want to show you how you can live just as happy (if not happier) without the big lottery win. Pay off the home (no make that buy a mansion - cash). A house is NOT a home. Many have houses but not homes. Many have mansions but not homes. You can't buy a home, only a house. A home is made with love, friendship, and loyalty. You can't buy those either. But you can get them without a big cash influx. Buy several exotic cars I have a fairly fancy car now but it pales in comparison to my first car. A Corvair. Not a Corvette, a 1966 Corvair. That was the car Ralph Nader campaigned against because he thought it was unsafe. I paid $125.00 for it. It leaked a trail of oil wherever it went. It smoked. It jerked. It might not get you where you intended to go, but it was mine. It was exotic. I got more thrill from that Corvair than from my fancy car now. Exotic is in the mind. Notice the hot graphics on the bus you are riding? Exotic is in the mind. Buy clothes A friend of mind saw Stephen Spielberg in a bookstore. Spielberg is the big movie producer of many of the all time great Hollywood movies. Spielberg is worth hundreds of millions if not billions. He was dressed in shorts, tennis shoes with no socks, and a floppy hat. You can afford to look like multi-multi millionaire Stephen Spielberg. Is that exotic enough for you? Travel to exotic places There are still a world of things in my city that I have never seen. Places that I have never walked. Streets that I have never driven. People that I have never met. So it is with your city. If you are not happy in your city, you won't find happiness on top of some foreign mountain or in some posh village. Hire servants (maids, chefs and chauffeurs) Invite your little niece or nephew over and pay them a toy to help you clean up. That will liven up your day. Take care of relatives (mama at a minimum) If your parents or grandparents are still alive, I can guarantee that they want to talk with you more than you talk with them. Talk costs you nothing but time and you don't have to win the lottery to have that. They want a little of your time, not a new house. Take care of them. Invest No matter how little (or much) you earn, always put something aside. I have seen that saving is a habit that's not dependant on income but on discipline. The things that you do after the "then what?" will ultimately be more important than your list if you won 100 million. If you've understood this, congratulations on winning the big one. ~A MountainWings Original~