How Can A Stroke Of Luck Ruin You?
Both in Norway and many other countries , it is common to play the lottery. In exchange for a few kroner, you get the chance to win millions. Many people hope for a stroke of luck that can give them these coveted prizes.
There are people who play the lottery all their lives and wait for a victory that never comes. They trust in their happiness and do not think there is any other way to get rich. Now, what happens to those who become unexpectedly lucky?
The brain and the lottery
Before you decide that winning the lottery is the only way you can live a happy, carefree life, take a moment to reflect on how your brain responds to mundane things. For example, do you not wear the same garment all the time, even though you have a closet full of clothes? Why do you always want a better car than the one you have? A bigger house? In so many aspects of your life, is not what you already have enough?
The paradox here is that if you won a million kroner, after just a few days you will wish you won more. It does not matter that you do not need them. As human beings, we always want more. We consume only to satisfy artificial needs created by society.
We search for the first excitement we felt when we managed to get something we did not have before. It is true whether it is better than what we had before, or whether it is just a symbol that we belong to a better social group or class. This type of happiness is powerful but fleeting. It makes us happy that we finally got what we have longed for so long.
These reactions and emotions come from the brain’s reward centers. The stimulation, the lottery, becomes something desirable when we add it to learned behavior and faith. Still, when you get what you want, what does your brain need to feel that way again? It needs to win the lottery or get more money.
A poisoned stroke of luck
In the headlines, people who win the lottery always smile. They can travel and satisfy all their whims without having to check the bank account. They look carefree and happy. These are our expectations. Consequently, the winners try to emulate this model, or they feel bad because winning did not give them the intense happiness it promised.
Jose Manuel Calvo Vaz, a government employee in the city of Ourense, Spain, won 9 million euros in 2003 by playing La Primitiva (A Lottery in Spain). After trying and failing to start several businesses, he spent all his money on luxury cars that he did not need, and only hung out with people who were only interested in his money. After all this, he ended up committing suicide.
Roger Griffiths won £ 1.8 million in the UK UK National Lottery in 2005. After their lucky draw, both he and his wife chose to quit their jobs and dedicate themselves to a life of luxury. They thought the money would last forever, but eventually it ran out. The marriage also ended. They had to sell everything they owned to pay off the debt. Today, Roger lives in a small cottage in West Yorkshire.
Happiness cannot be bought for money
We all want to be lucky. But many people are ruined or trapped by an addiction that they would not have had otherwise. Getting rich overnight changes you radically, and not necessarily for the better. In reality, it is often very different.
A lot of money does not guarantee happiness. It actually can guarantee happiness is to intelligently know what to do with luck meetup. Because, all in all, we all experience happiness of some kind at some point in our lives. Otherwise, a stroke of luck can be a prison sentence.
