Stories of Sudden Abundance

There are many sad but true stories about lottery winners who end up in a worse state after their windfall. Just this week in the news is a story of a Michigan woman who won a million dollars in the lottery and continued to collect food stamps and medical assistance. After a news station interviewed her in March, the story spread widely. Her public assistance was taken away. A few months later, she was found dead in her home of a drug overdose.

Last year a woman who won the lottery realized that winning put her in danger. She disconnected her phone, gave no public statements, tried to hide from the media and moved away from her small town. Within days of her win a mug shot of her bruised face was the image everyone associated with her. She had been a victim of domestic violence a few years previously. She had to disappear to keep from getting hurt again.

Of course there are some who are successful at managing their riches, share with others, and live a great life after winning. They give away most of their fortune to family, friends, and church. They pay off debts and support worthy charities. They share their fortune and are a little better off, but their life does not change dramatically.

Even though riches are no guarantee of happiness, most of us would love to experience sudden abundance. There are many old tales about a man who became rich through a dream. One version of that tale type is a story called the Peddler of Swaffam. The man has a dream that he should go to London Bridge and there he would receive joyful news. He ignored it for a while but the dream persisted. Finally he went to London and stood on the bridge a long time. He felt like a fool. But near the end of the day he talked to a shop keeper who laughed at him for standing on the bridge all day. And then he told him of his own dream, which revealed the location of a treasure that was buried under a large oak tree. The man left immediately and went home. He found the treasure exactly where it was supposed to be. Of course it was in his own back yard. He became a generous man and lived well the rest of his life.

So which one is your story? Would riches be the death of you, or would they help you reach your full potential?