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Alberta, Bonus Post, Calgary, caring, Charity, compassion, Diana Schwenk, Erich Fromm, generosity, Happiness, joy, lottery ticket, love, passion, Tom Crist
I don’t usually post on Thursdays but I just couldn’t wait until Wednesday to share this story with you!
Usually the news breaks my heart.
Then along comes the man with the hat and the sunglasses on and blows my mind! He has enough and is satisfied. His children are taken care of.
The one person he loved above all others is gone. His wife, who died of cancer 2 years ago.
And this man with the hat and sunglasses on wins $40M on his lottery ticket. And declares that he will be giving it to charity; most of it for Cancer research.
He has the secret to happiness. He has enough. Having more doesn’t make you happier when you have what you need. I’m so happy for him!
“Giving is the highest expression of potency. In the very act of giving, I experience my strength, my wealth, my power. This experience of heightened vitality and potency fills me with joy. I experience myself as overflowing, spending, alive, hence as joyous. Giving is more joyous than receiving, not because it is a deprivation, but because in the act of giving lies the expression of my aliveness.” ~ Erich Fromm
Tom, I have no doubt that your beloved wife is looking down with pride and love in her heart for you. May your generous act lead to a cure and spare many husbands, wives, parents, children from losing the ones they love.
related article $40M Lotto winner to donate to charity
talktodiana 
How incredibly rare and amazing!
This is so heart warming ~ I think Oprah said if you’re never happy with what you have you’ll never have enough. What an immense blessing to be happy with what we have, to feel it’s enough and to be able to share with others.
A great reminder this Christmas/New Year – so inspiring!
~Andrea<3
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It is a great story, eh? I am very inspired!
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“He has the secret to happiness. He has enough. Having more doesn’t make you happier when you have what you need.”
Yep, exactly, and more’s the pity people don’t get this. I would go so far as to say that, absent the things you need to survive (air, water, clothing, food, etc.), things will never make you happy. Having a good strong sense of “enough” is also key to happiness, I think.
Two thoughts…
When I lived and worked in Los Angeles, I encountered many wealthy people (was even close to a few). One thing I noticed about having money is the amount of time and energy one spends thinking about that money. How to protect it, how to get more, and you can never be really sure who your friends are. Concern for material wealth just seems to lead to more concern for material wealth and not a lot of peace.
Studies have shown that people very generally fall into two groups: people who think people fall into two groups and people who know better. 😀 But even so, you can define two general kinds of approach people have: There are those who spend a great deal of effort insuring they get the best possible bargain in any deal and who worry later that they may have missed a better bargain. And there are those who don’t. There is usually a fair amount of unhappiness in the former group, but not so much in the latter. The wealthy typically fall into the former group.
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Thank you, as per usual, for your thoroughly thought through comment! 🙂
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Loving that 🙂 thanks for sharing it Diana x
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My pleasure – thanks for stopping by!
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“He has the secret to happiness. He has enough. Having more doesn’t make you happier when you have what you need.” You are a wise woman, Diana. Thank you for sharing this post.
Russ
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My pleasure. Thanks Russ!
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I’m so glad you shared this — I thought it was incredibly inspiring too. — though Lisa’s question is an interesting one… I wonder if it was because he always wanted to do something special for his wife… or if they always played and he just kept playing after she passed away….
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It was a once a year subscription renewal that he just paid for once a year!
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So the question is, if he was so happy with what he had, why did he play the lottery?
Nice gesture regardless.
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He has been playing the lottery for years through a subscription that he renews every year without giving it much thought beyond that. In the past he’s won the odd $10 or $20
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Oh my, what a wonderful thing to do. He realizes too, I think, that the one thing (or person in this case) he does want can’t be bought with any amount of money, or brought back.
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yes…I love how his family is supporting his decision. $40M is a lot of money!
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