While many dream of winning the lottery, one man claims his cash windfall set him on a path to failure.
The now 28-year-old man detailed how he won the lottery when he was “barely 18” and wasted an entire decade doing “nothing”.
Thankfully, one of the first things he purchased with his newfound wealth was a house. He shared on Reddit: “I bought a small house, and have basically lived there for the past 10 years.”
However, instead of investing his money to generate more wealth for his future, he squandered it playing games, watching films, and chatting with strangers online. He added: “I even got in a long distance relationship for a bit to pass the time, and it didn’t work out etc; essentially being a NEET [not in education, employment or training].”
Following this, he enrolled in a law course at university. However, this didn’t pan out as expected either, with him adding: “I did go to uni, thought since I’ve got all this money, why the hell not just get a degree. I got a law degree and decided to do my masters, but somewhere in between I decided f*** it, I just don’t feel like doing this anymore. So I burnt that money and dropped out.
“Now, I’m 28, and I’ve got no social life, no meaning towards life, no hobbies. I realise that I’m turning 30 soon. I’ve never worked a day in my life and never have, all because I didn’t need to. My bills are all paid at this moment, but I know it’s not going to last forever.”
He thinks that winning the lottery deprived him of acquiring essential life skills, ultimately rendering him a “boring” individual. “I feel like winning the lottery was a curse because I have no direction, no hobbies, no personality really,” he admits.
“I’m aware that I’m in a privileged position, since I still have some money to fall back on, but I’m going crazy because I don’t know what else to do or how to move forward. I’m lonely, and life feels pointless.”
Commenting on his post, one user suggested: “See what you can do to grow that money you have left and volunteer in your community.” Another user proposed: “Airbnb your home and travel! Live off the interest.”
A third user added: “Volunteer work. Start a franchise business and be a fair and relatively chill boss people are happy to work for. Or give me a million, I’ll make good use of it.”
A final user said: “Man, I wished I was the one who had won the lottery. If I was in your position I would have made a list of goals from family to career wise and work from there.”
