So I freely admit that I got caught up in the Powerball frenzy, admit it that you did as well. As you have probably guessed by now neither of us won. But someone won this time probably more than one “someone” as we know right now. In addition a number of “other someones” won some chump change in the drawing last night, you know just a million or two. So what are we all really going through “the day after”? Besides the few lucky, (or are they?) winners, what are we really thinking or really feeling.
I will tell you I really thought at some point last night that I had the lucky winning ticket (because it wouldn’t be a fantasy if you doubted it would it?) I carefully chose my numbers for only one ticket and then quick picked the rest—all twenty dollars worth. The numbers I chose were mostly ages of my aging family as I noticed high numbers were calling—and the lucky power ball number—22 the age of my only child. If anyone could bring me luck it would be her but I digress.
In my fantasy of the winning ticket, I had no idea what I would do with the winnings. I don’t have great debt, I make a decent living and I just wrote the last tuition check for the said 22 year-old. Would I quit my recently reopened private psychotherapy practice, would I stop looking for speaking engagements, would I stop looking for way to make change in the world? Or would I use my vast winnings to make major change in the world?
So here is the problem with money—it has no value unless you spend it. This is a theory that I heard from my brother who said he read it somewhere (I found this idea in an article by Mungai Kihanya in the Daily Nation, July 25). It goes something like this: Money has no value just sitting there—you must do something with it, pay your rent, buy things, donate it or just give it away. The value is in what you get for your money, not the money itself. Now I know what you might be thinking “are you crazy”? “Did you never take a business or economics class?” You invest your money so you can make more money goes the wisdom of wealth management, but you still have the same problem, all that money you just made on the investments still has no value until you do something with it.
So frankly, the winners of the Powerball, no matter how many there are, cannot possibly spend all of that money, and remember it is useless unless you do something with it. My sympathy goes out to the unlucky winners of the Powerball last night.