Life: It’s not all about Champagne and roses.

What would you do if you won the lottery jackpot?  I’ve been asked that and pondered on it numerous times over the years, and although my response has evolved somewhat, it is not so different from my original answer.

Of course there’s the no-brainer stuff; paying off debts, credit, loans and mortgages and buying me and my husband a nice, flashy car each and a big house in the place that I came from.  After that it would be a case of making sure that my sister, brother-in-law, my two beautiful nieces and my dearest friends and my God-daughters are treated to something nice.  There would be donations to some chosen charities, but beyond that I would definitely be winging it.

Sure, I’ve seen the media stories of the folks that have won massive amounts of money and have claimed that it made no difference to them, or, was the best thing ever or was the worst thing ever, but to be honest I think that says a lot about them and not much about the actual privilege of suddenly finding yourself in a position where you are financially comfortable and financially able to be a little more ethical and charitable.  I remember at least one winner fessing up to having gone back to work after a short spell away because they were bored… BORED‽‽  This person had won a serious amount of money and yet they were bored! I may not be wealthy, as I type this I am unemployed and panicking about how I’m going to meet my financial obligations this month (and beyond), but I consider myself rich beyond measure in comparison to that person, because I have a loving husband, family, friends and, importantly, an imagination.  Seriously that person must have zero imagination if they can’t find something to keep them occupied and stimulated whilst having no money worries due to the massive multi-million pound bank balance that they have.  They had the means to do good things, enjoy good things but instead they went back to the routine; why would you?

I think that I would perhaps seek to start a business of some description, perhaps fund a social enterprise start-up, that way I could share the wealth and help others who seek something different from the daily grind of work that serves to keep their heads above water whilst ensuring that the fat-cat bosses and esteemed board members drink Champagne as they select their next luxury car, yacht or foreign home.  I’m not delusional and I’m not a rebellious, confrontational ne’er-do-well either, I’m just someone who after almost fifty years on this planet has finally realised what really matters to her.  I’ve been fortunate to have some satisfying and sensibly paid jobs over the years. Conversely, I have also worked for some poor payers, bullies and complete shysters, that whilst I wish no ill will, had better hope they don’t burst into flames whilst in my presence as I would be disinclined to urinate on them, karma will take care of them – I pay them little remembrance other than chalking the experience down as valuable lessons and examples of the human being that I don’t want to ever be.

So what else would a person like me, who has boldly claimed to have a good imagination, do with a shed load of money?  Well apart from the stuff stated above, I would want to take time to enjoy life more, perhaps travel a little, maybe visit distant family and friends.  I would like guilt-free time to enjoy reading again and time to listen to music – maybe learning to play an instrument would be a thing to do too.  Whilst there would likely be some Champagne sloshing around, for me it would be the simpler things that matter, the time spent with family and friends sloshing said Champagne around, walks in the forests and on the beach, homemade meals, laughter and watched sunsets and sunrises.  I’d tend a wild and colourful garden filled with a myriad of fragrances from beautiful, traditional flowers and earthy herbs, drinking tea on the terrace or cracking open a beer (or six) when the weather is warm.  I’d like to be able to learn to knit and crochet, to start sewing again and oh to be able to bake; bake cakes, puddings, scones and make healthy, hearty soups and stews.  To have another dog, yes I know that when my last fur baby died I vowed I would never put myself through that again, the agony of losing what was the closest I’ll ever come to having a child did unimaginable damage to my already fractured heart, but with the passage of time comes the realisation and wisdom for a dog lover, that actually life without a dog is not complete, it can be good but never great.

Not for me is the pampered, spoilt and frankly wasted lifestyles that some of those previous lottery winners have followed, not for me the endless parties with expensive Champagne and equally expensive food, nor the multiple cosmetic surgeries to have something enlarged, something reduced, something tucked or indeed entirely removed from its rightful place and not for me the missed opportunities, because I would not be THAT person… I would not be all up in y’grill with my wealth as that serves no purpose; it has no long term benefit to anyone.  So if I ever win the lottery jackpot (which at the moment is highly unlikely as I don’t have any money to buy any tickets!) you may not even notice other than perhaps that I had given up work, gone into business, got a nice car and got a kick-ass swanky garden.

I’ve known some very wealthy people over the years, their money earned or inherited.  Some of them have been complete cockwombles, flouting their wealth in the most uncouth and trashy manner; they are testaments to the fact that you can have money, but it doesn’t automatically mean you have any class.  But then there have been others that have just been regular Joes and Joannas but with wealth.  The one’s that still take budget holidays, still like to bag a bargain when out shopping, those that have the posh house(s) with a variety of tastefully expensive motor vehicles but that don’t act like bigshots, that don’t push their wealth out there when you haven’t a bean in your wallet and no clue where the next penny is coming from.  They know how to have fun and how to not take life too seriously; they know how to spend their money and time wisely and with integrity.  Should I suddenly become wealthy, then I would aspire to be like the latter rather than the former, after all, who wants to deliberately be a cockwomble?

So I guess what I’m trying to say here is that for me a lottery jackpot win would bring financial security, but the biggest gain for me from such a win would be time.  Time to do all the things that I haven’t done, but would like to.  Time to do the things that I love, but don’t have time to. Truly, it is not all about Champagne and roses, it’s about time – enjoying it, spending it and living it, although I’m not entirely ruling out the possibility that there may also be some Champagne and some roses from time to time.