The Simpsons: billion dollar lottery

Time to be multi-billionaire (Powerball)

No one won the massive jackpot, so it's going up to $1.7-2.0 billion: Saturday

40 drawings from May 31st without a winner: This is the 5th largest pot ever

Powerball nears record with $1.3 billion jackpot for tonight's drawing

The dumbest lottery winners of all time

• LIVE: $1.4 billion Powerball — What to know before buying a ticket + real winner stories

(ABC7) Powerball nears record with $1.3 billion jackpot for tonight's drawing. Sept.. 3, 2025: The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night's drawing has soared to an estimated $1.3-$1.4 billion, the fifth-biggest in the lottery's history, after no one claimed the top prize earlier this week, winning a measly million (before taxes). abc7.com/post/powerball...

It looks like this will end up being the 4th biggest

(SunnyV2) Playing the lottery is already incredibly stup*d. However, of all the stup*d lottery winners, there are going to be a few who are extra d*mb, including people who won the jackpot then lost everything.

From accidentally throwing a 3-million-pound (dollar) lottery ticket in the bin (trash), to spending a $16.2 million dollar prize in under 90 days, these are the absolute dumbest and stup*dest lottery winners of all time.

(NBC Connecticut) One in 292,000,000 is the chance of winning

What's karma got to do with it?

Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly 2025

For one who knows and sees

The biggest mistake I hear when listening to people talk about karma -- other than mistaking the results (fruit) for the actions, the reaping (harvest) for the sowing -- is the implicit assumption that it's what one did in this life.

When we look at someone and judge her or him, that is a judgment. It is not a reality. The unseen reality is that that person is so much more than can be seen. People are the results of their previous actions, what they did long ago and what they are doing now at this moment, both. It may be possible to do something now and seem to get the opposite result.

However, when we examine ourselves under successful meditation (profound calm and the pursuit of insight or samatha-vipassana), we can see that most of the welcome and unwelcome results manifesting now were planted long ago.

How to win? Liquify LUCK (Dr. Gallenberger)

All we do, say, think follows us with fruit.

It is relatively rare for a recent action to bear sudden results. There is usually a period of maturation, bearing fruit, ripening. So it is wise to persist in the good (skillful, wholesome, harmless) as it will surely bear fruit at some point.

Likewise, it is foolish to persist in the bad (unskillful, unwholesome, harmful) because it does not seem to have yet borne any unwelcome results. What is "good," what is "bad"? That is very easy to answer, though it may be unbelievable, in karmic terms. The real "karma," according to the Buddha is the cetana (motivation, intention, impulse) behind an act, not the act itself. With this in mind, there are six major causes or roots of ALL actions (karma):

1. greed (craving, clinging, lust, selfishness)
2. hatred (aversion, fear, anger, annoyance)
3. delusion (wrong view, ignorance, confusion)
4. nongreed (letting go, giving, generosity, selflessness)
5. nonhatred (loving kindness, compassion, forbearance)
6. nondelusion (insight, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, right view).

Karma: It's everywhere you're going to be.

For any act (deed, impulsive acting out, conduct), we can reflect and seek out our own underlying motive.  In this way we can know the intention (motive) behind our karma (act). It will be rooted in one of these six. The first three invariably lead to eventual harm, both immediate in terms of disturbing our mind/heart and conscience if we still have one to save us and eventual in terms of bearing fruit long after the seed was sown (planted). This is a universal law (niyama) and not the Buddha's doing. He made it known to help all living beings be happy here and now and be liberated at some time in the future.

But isn't it wrong to WANT to be a millionaire or billionaire or trillionaire? - No. Wanting is normal. Any wanting may lead to that much disappointment, and certainly if greed (tanha become lobha, thirst become avaraice) gets a hold of us, that is very likely to lead to some very unskillful karma (deeds).

Living in an Abrahamic society that calls itself Judeo-Christian, we are taught to believe that, "Money is the root of all evil." While this is not incorrect as such, it is incomplete. It's not what the Bible says. Look it up. The popular KJV says that it is the LOVE of money that is the root of all evil, and that seems closer to what we find. "Desire" is not bad, as many Westerners misunderstand Buddhism to be saying. Craving is, which is to say, greed motivates many unskillful deeds, and these will have very painful results for a long time. We can see in ourselves, with no external authority telling us what's what, that the moment craving arises, unsatisfactoriness co-arises. With these springs hopes, plans, schemes, expectations...we're just setting ourselves up for a bigger and bigger fall. But say I want something -- more food, more comfort, more Avenged Sevenfold songs, more sex, more more more whatever -- and I'm willing to strive for it and worry about it and waste my time for it. Okay. So long as it's done in a lawful (codified consensus reality of the rules of our society) and harmless (ahimsa) way, that's fine. That's good. Go for it. But be aware, at least, that it will not satisfy greed. It will not (cannot) fulfill us. And in the meantime, we have not been cultivating the skillful that would lead to welcome results now and in the future. Compassion and wisdom pay great dividends, as does mindfulness.

Thanks for watching. Like and sub if enjoyed, SunnyV2 XO ❤ The idea for this video was inspired by "TheRichest," who posted a video on a similar topic in March 2015 entitled "10 Stupid Lottery Winners." Watch that version on YouTube.com.

• Schultz LIVE; ABC News 7, Los Angeles, Sept. 3, 2025; SunnyV2, Nov. 17, 2022; Seth Auberon, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

When I'm driving in my CAR (Win 2)

GTO Dream Giveaway from salesmen your friends at dreamgiveaway.com

TSOL (True Sounds of Liberty) perform their Orange County punk rock hit "Man and Machine"

The Lars Ulrich Ensemble perform "Fuel" (Metallica, ya mean?)

Cool convertible Camaro or fat Chevelle?

Q: Is we slightly stoopid? We owned muscle cars as teens. Very mindful, very demure, right? We had fat tires, needlessly shiny rims, and coatings of black primer instead of proper paint jobs, which were coming.

A: Listening to hardcore LA punk and heavier and heavier metal of all kinds, it made sense. American boys need power, at least the LA (and Detroit) ones. Humans need the feel of speed. We were hardly the first American'ts to feel drawn to the exaggerated feminine curves of the Chevy Corvette over the square stylings of the Ford Mustang or the silly buggy shape of Hitler's Folkswagon (VW). The Chevy Camaro, the Malibu, the Nova, the Predator, the Scylla, the Leviathan, somewhere there were balding men during the Fifties fueling these fevered dreams of "Man and Machine." Women, too, strange tomboys and uberkoolchix. It was not the most meditative thing one could have been doing though in someways there was Zen and being in the zone. Gary Numan had a lot to do with it.

What synthetic drugs must you have been on in the Seventies, Gary?

The best rock 'n roll song about driving: Deep Purple's "Highway Star"

But we had watched so many car chase scenes on the big and small screen, we needed to instigate fights between Rubber and Asphalt, drift, spin out, make shifting sounds with our mouths, and annoy the neighbors with roars and squeals. What, we were the only ones? It only got worse.

Polish until Death's reflection is clearly visible.

Needing more speed and agility, I upped the ante by purchasing a motorcycle, a deadly "moto-sickle" as I used to call it, not realizing the danger I was in. The tank on the Yamaha was shaped like a little coffin. That should have been a sign. I hit the wall. But the spongy brain, being what it is, had amnesia. So I kept driving, speeding, and skidding about.

Brits love Buicks? Madness "Driving in My Car"

Fortunately, others were much smarter than I was. Cars, Man, cars are the way to go. That way when one brakes, they might actually stop and, if not, the bumper might absorb the impact instead of using the forehead.

But classic cars? Who's interested in polluting the environment with a gurgling gas guzzler, a blinding chrome land missile, a metallic death trap, a gleaming attention magnet?

Mindfulness meditation for daily driving

Mindful Driving: We can be attentive, vigilant, aware, clear during any activity (with practice)

• Mindful Driving 2.0 by Katherine Winge

Get off of there, Bean! You're going to get hurt!

Imagine the singlemindedness it takes to drive. The faster one goes, the more focus. The more dangerous the ride, the more remaining calm (samatha), cool (upekkha), and collected (ekagata nearly to the point of samadhi) becomes paramount. Harder, faster...calmer. If one were in a sword fight, that's no time to stress, strain, and think. It is time to act decisively and reach of state of zen (jhana, dhyana, chan). Driving can make one more meditative, more calm, in the zone, beyond thinking, operating in a state of being that must remain present or 🚗 💥. In the mosh pit, one can have this same feeling, or in war, or in any life-and-death situation. The mind quietens. Focus becomes like a laser. The senses heighten but the breath seems to disappear. This is not about efforting and panicking but the opposite, exhiliration and "being here now."

What does a mosh pit have to do with anything?

THE GIVEAWAY

It's real. These two classic muscle cars are being given away to one lucky winner. Enter now.

Wanna win one? What if we tell you there's a way? Well, there is. Read on for details.

Enter to win two big-block Chevy muscle cars. Remember when powerful muscle machines like the Camaro and Chevelle ruled the road?

Are those glory days gone forever? Thanks to this Dream Giveaway, readers can keep making muscle-car memories with two specially selected big-block Chevys in their own garage! Let’s get right to the prizes.

What would one do with two cars?

My second car's a videogame. Is that pathetic? Hey, the insurance is much cheaper.

• GRAND PRIZE #1: 19,000 original mile 450-horsepower big-block Chevelle SS454

Most. Iconic. Chevelle. Ever. Some hearts never left the muscle-car era, so there’s nothing cooler than this tuxedo black 1970 Chevelle SS454 with a LS6 big-block V-8, a Muncie four-speed stick, and a functional cowl-induction hood.

With only 19,000 original miles, one could say this Chevelle SS454 didn’t get out much over the past 54 years. But the big news is what’s under the hood – a 450 horsepower LS6 big-block V-8, making this dream machine the undeniable king of the screamin’ muscle cars.

This concours-quality Chevelle SS454 is safely tucked away at the Dream Giveaway Garage waiting for that magical day when the winner gets a phone call. Imagine family and friend reacting when they see this rotisserie-restored Chevelle looking as good as the day it was born.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win a triple-black LS6-powered Chevelle! Keep reading.

Anyone who dreams of owning the crème de la crème of the 1969 Camaros, then we have a way for that dream to come true:

• GRAND PRIZE #2: 375 horsepower big-block Camaro RS/SS 396 convertible

How? All you have to do is have the winning entry to bring home this tux black 1969 Camaro RS/SS 396 convertible with a tire-scorching L78 big-block V-8, a four-speed Muncie M21 gear box, Positraction, and dual exhaust.

SoCal potheads Slightly Stoopid sing "2am" (official video)

Remember when opening a classic Chevy’s hood could bring a grin to someone's face? (Then ask your dad's dad, and he'll tell you). This 1969 Camaro RS/SS 396 convertible is sure to bring back that great feeling, thanks to its highly detailed engine and spotless engine compartment.

Inside the cabin, it’s all about enjoying classic Camaro cool with a 160-mph speedometer, mint white Houndstooth interior, center console, and console-mounted gauges. Very few Camaros were ordered with a solid-lifter L78 powerplant. Enter now!

At war with the external world | Alan Watts

Win both big-block Chevy dream machines.

These muscle cars came from prominent collections – the Chevelle SS454 from the Bob Dorman Chevrolet collection in Ohio and the Camaro RS/SS 396 convertible from the Muscle Car City collection in Florida.

Ready to open a garage and find this 19,000 original-mile 1970 Chevelle SS454 and this this rotisserie-restored 1969 Camaro RS/SS 396 convertible waiting to turn their keys and hear their engines roar to life, then enter now.

Jesse Welles "We’re All Gonna Die"

Plus, winner’s taxes will be paid out to the tune of $55,000 on behalf of the new owner for the fed’s "prize tax."

Yes. LS6 Chevelle SS454. L78 Camaro RS/SS 396 convertible. Two timeless dream machines from the muscle-car era are waiting to go to their new home. Enter now to win. It’s the real deal: Super Chevy Dream Giveaway

• Middle Finger, Middle Way (celebrity mudra)
• Ever wanted to be somebody else?
• Dreamgiveaway.com, Feb. 5, 2025; Dhr. Seven, Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Scam: Trouble at Powerball lottery: delay

Powerball lottery's $1.3 billion jackpot drawing delayed (AP via MSN.com)

UPDATE: $2 billion Powerball lottery fraud: SCAM!

.

The eighth-largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history — $1.3 billion — is at stake in Saturday evening’s multi-state Powerball drawing.

• UPDATE: Who won the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot in Oregon? We might or might not know anytime soon. Here's why

However, the drawing has been delayed. [Hmm, just like the time the lotto scammed us in Altadena, California, where one many bought a ticket and another man became a billionaire being sued by the first man and there was a very mysterious delay lied about by officials.]

The Multi-State Lottery Association, which conducts the game, issued the following statement:

“The Powerball drawing scheduled for 10:59 pm ET on Saturday, April 6 has been delayed.

“Tonight, we have one participating lottery [Is it California, home of the most winners, by any chance?] that needs additional time to complete required pre-draw procedures, which have been enacted to protect the security and integrity of the Powerball game.

• UPDATE: $2b Powerball lottery fraud: SCAM!
• $1.3 billion Powerball drawing delayed (NBC/MSN)

Gambling? The fix is in.

“Powerball game rules require that every single ticket sold nationwide be checked and verified against two different computer systems before the winning numbers are drawn. This is done to ensure that every ticket sold for the Powerball drawing has been accounted for and has an equal chance to win. Tonight, we have one jurisdiction that needs extra time to complete that pre-draw process.

“Please hold on to your tickets for Saturday’s Powerball drawing. When the required pre-draw procedures are complete, the Powerball drawing will be performed under the supervision of lottery security officials and independent auditors.

“The drawing will be live streamed on Powerball.com, and the winning numbers and recorded video of the drawing will be posted to the Powerball website and YouTube channel.”

• Related video: Powerball draw for $1.3 billion jackpot delayed (KTLA-TV Los Angeles)
• Also tonight you want to hold on to those tickets

Powerball draw for $1.3 billion jackpot delayed

There have been 40 drawings since January 1, 2024, the last time a ticket with all six numbers was [chosen by someone and] sold, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association.

Saturday’s drawing was initially scheduled to take place at 7:59 pm. Tickets sold after 7:05 pm were ineligible for the night’s draw, but are eligible for the following drawing.

In its announcement Friday that the estimated jackpot had grown to $1.3 billion from the previous estimate of $1.23 billion because of strong ticket sales across the nation coupled with a boost in interest rates used to fund the annuitized prize, the Multi-State Lottery Association also sought to debunk what it called top misconceptions about whether players can gain an edge to winning the Powerball jackpot.

One misconception is that Powerball jackpot-winning tickets are only sold in big cities and states. Powerball was designed to be a random game with every ticket having the same possibility of matching the winning numbers drawn, the association said.

The number of winning tickets in a location directly correlates to the volume of ticket sales. Typically, there are more winning tickets in cities because they have higher ticket sales compared to rural areas, and therefore, more winners based upon sales volume.

The odds of matching all five numbers and the Powerball number are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association. The overall chance of winning a prize is 1 in 24.9.

The jackpot for Saturday’s drawing is the fourth largest in the history of the Powerball game, which began in 1992. There have been four larger jackpots for the Mega Millions game, which began in 1996 as The Big Game and was given the new name Mega Millions in 2002.

The Powerball game is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More + VIDEO

• MyNewsLA via MSN.com, 4/6/24; Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Lottery: Mega Millions jackpot millions

Brian Bushard, Forbes (MSN, 2/21/24); Seth Auberon, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

What's luck? Random chance? Falling ass backwards into it? Or Dr. Gallenberger's method?

The Mega Millions jackpot surged to $525 million Wednesday morning, making it the 12th biggest in the game’s history (Getty Images © provided by Forbes).

Topline

Liquid Luck: Good Fortune HB

The Mega Millions jackpot climbed to a mouth-watering $525 million today (Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024) morning, after no successful tickets were drawn Tuesday night, making the jackpot the 12th biggest in the history of the game, though a lucky winner would see less than half of that amount after federal taxes are deducted.

Key Facts

A lucky ticket purchaser and holder who matches all five white balls and one “megaball” to claim the grand prize would have the choice of receiving the massive payout in 30 annual installments or as a one-time lump sum of $247.1 million, by far the more popular option among lottery winners.

Under the lump sum route, the winner’s payout would be reduced by a mandatory 24% federal tax withholding, cutting the prize to just under $187.8 million, while a federal marginal rate as high as 37% — depending on the winner’s taxable income and other tax deductions — could bring it down to just over $155.6 million.

If the winner opts for the annual installments, a full 37% federal marginal rate would reduce each payment to roughly $11 million.

State taxes could cut even more out of the grand prize, though not every state taxes lottery winnings. More

• How to start getting lucky: Dr. Gallenberger
• Powerball winning numbers for Feb. 21 drawing: Jackpot rises to nearly $350 million

Is "playing the lottery" gambling? (DN 27)

The Buddha gave this advice in The Book of the Sixes (Anguttara Nikaya, VI). We all want six things, one of which is wealth. The question is, Should we pray for it? Is petitionary prayer to some power the way to get it? The Buddha asks, If prayer were able to get it for us, who would not already have it? Better than praying is action (karma) so that one realizes the results without even asking for them. What deed results in receiving?

What is dumb luck?

How to start getting lucky: Dr. Gallenberger

Boss Stewie, Dog Brian (Family Guy); Dr. Joseph Gallenberger, Ph.D., host G-Man Noory (Coast to Coast, 2/14/24); Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

One is reminded of Stewie Griffin as Brian's boss in the episode when he advised him, "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right."

Dr. Gallenberger website: synccreation.com

Clinical psychologist Dr. Joseph Gallenberger, Ph.D., author of Liquid Luck: The Good Fortune Handbook, discusses the power of gratitude and his interest in psychokinesis (PK) -- the psychic ability to affect, change, and improve our external circumstances in the physical world.

In addition to psychic ability, he discusses his latest work in remote viewing (RV).

I'm the soft yin to Dr. Gallenberger's hard yang.

It is a yin-yang approach of both receptive and active (passive and energetic) approaches to psychically interacting with the world, healing and receiving.

We can do retro-causation (affecting the past now), time distortion, time dilation, and more. Get grounded and be in the present moment. Happiness creates more reasons to be happy (luck), so an optimistic bias can be quite helpful.

• AUDIO: coasttocoastam.com (Feb. 14, 2024)
• Can we be "lucky" in love, too? YES
• Virginia's Robert Monroe Institute
• BOOK CD: Start with body, intention, grounding

Liquid Luck: The Good Fortune Handbook

Can an average American schlub develop the Midas touch? Can we learn "luck" to win?

This is not the Buddha. It's lucky Budai

Manifestation expert Dr. Joe Gallenberger has distilled decades of wisdom about creating our dreams into a quick and effective meditation called "Liquid Luck."

He wanted to give ordinary people a simple and fun way to access heart-based manifestation and see immediate karmic results in the form of days filled with synchronicity, serendipity, and good fortune.

Liquid Luck: Fortune Handbook

With Liquid Luck's secrets released on CD, delightful tales have come flooding in, describing instant success.

People report receiving money from unexpected sources, winning lotteries and raffles, selling houses in an hour, having businesses take off, solving intractable problems easily, receiving brilliant ideas for inventions, and many more wonderful stories of manifestation.

Liquid Luck: The Good Fortune Handbook shares these inspiring stories, interwoven with exploration of the vital components for powerful creation of abundance.

Inner Vegas: Creating Miracles,
Abundance, and Health

In the explorer's own words, Gallenberger delves into the heart of how these principles work. He covers why happiness, gratitude, compassion, praise, love, and feeling abundant are essential and how these qualities can be increased in practical ways.

Dr. Gallenberger reveals how to transcend the limiting beliefs and emotions that usually keep us confined to old patterns.

His knowledge and the stories tell us that indeed we can be miracle workers in our own lives.

Heaven is for Healing: Journey After Suicide

Liquid Luck is an essential handbook that will be consulted repeatedly, offering a clear path toward our dreams lit with humor and heart. More

The Princeton Engineering Anomalous Research (PEAR) Lab confirms "spooky action at a distance," as Einstein dubbed it, says this may be the way the universe operates whether we know it or not, like it or not, because even if we do not believe, it's still working.

US couple wins $294 million: Then what?

Nancy Truman, 12up.com, 8/4/22; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Every American dreams about winning the lottery. Not everyone is lucky enough to hold the one ticket that takes home the whole pot, with the odds being 1 in 300 billion. But Mark and Cindy Hill, 52 and 51, were lucky people holding that ticket.

When they won the lottery, they defied the odds again by spending their money in a way no one would ever expect. 

• What did they do, build Buddhist temples, fill libraries with sacred texts, support scholars to probe and monastics to practice those sacred teachings?

Smallest of Towns

Mark and Cindy Hill live in Podunk, America (Dearborn, Missouri). West of Kansas City by about 30 miles, the town is so small it only has about 200 residents. That truly makes it a small town, very country and very rural, in America.

Mark and Cindy have three grown sons, between the ages of 28 and 30, who no longer live with them, and they also adopted a six-year-old girl from China.

• Did they give each child $10 million to set them up for life, with $11 million for the adopted Chinese daughter so she could set up a modest Buddhist temple, fill its one library with some books, and support two practitioners who resource a scholar to translate and interpret the texts?

Humble Hills

The Hills had always lived in Dearborn, with a humble lifestyle that didn’t require much. They go to church, pay their dues and, occasionally, buy a lottery ticket [ a sinful act of gambling, according to the church, but who listens to the church on such matters?]

Most residents in Dearborn are living on about $22,000 a year, but the Hills were making less than that because Cindy had been laid off from her office manager job in 2010, and Mark was working as a mechanic in a factory. While his work was important and worthwhile, he didn’t bring home enough to make up for Cindy’s lost job.

Pick up the Slack

One source of income for American families is less than ideal in this day and age, and Cindy was always on the job hunt -- but it was hard since their daughter, Jade, had been recently adopted and was adjusting to her new life. They didn’t want to leave her alone; however, they wanted to do the best to provide for her financially.

So Cindy took a part-time job as a waitress for the first few years of Jade’s adjustment, which meant she was working at the age of 40-something at a job she hadn’t done since she was a teenager! That’s a big downgrade from office manager, but she did it with a smile and out of love for her daughter. 

It Started Out Like Any Other Day...

In November of 2012, after Jade had been with the family for two years, Cindy was on her way home from errands when she stopped at a Trex Mart. [Think Piggly Wigglys]. She needed to get some groceries and was mostly thinking about how she would make ends meet that week.

She saw that the lottery had a pot that had grown to be an astonishing amount of money so, not thinking about church, she bought five tickets to try her luck. Of course, the odds of winning the lottery are very slim, so she didn’t think this would help them put food on the table or anything more anywhere else. 

Historic Jackpot

The jackpot for the lottery was the largest in the history of the USA at the time and, of course, the biggest ever in Missouri. It stood at a whopping $587.5 million, more than half a billion. That’s a lot more zeros than any resident of Dearborn had ever seen. 

• CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 22: A customer purchases a Mega Millions lottery ticket at a 7-Eleven store in the Loop on January 22, 2021, in Chicago, Illinois. The jackpot in the drawing has climbed to $970 million, the third highest in the game (Scott Olson/GettyImages).

The odds are really against lottery winners, and with a pot that big the number of tickets being bought was high, so the chances of a successful ticket buy were exactly the same (because the odds in state lotteries are not dependent on the number of tickets sold though the payout is).

Back of Her Mind...

Cindy didn’t put too much thought into the tickets she bought. She spent a total of ten dollars on the tickets and didn’t even bother trying her "lucky numbers." Instead, she let the machine pick the tickets for her, which is not usually the strategy employed by avid lottery gamblers. 

Cindy didn’t even bother memorizing her numbers! She just put the tickets in her car and forgot about them overnight, her mind occupied with more important things, like dinner and her children. 

A Night of Waiting

The night before the winning lottery numbers were announced, Cindy had very little hope. She told her daughter Jade that they were very unlikely to win, as it never happens. The chances of someone actually holding the winning numbers are very slim! 

However, the next day, after she had dropped Jade off at school, she went to the convenience store again. She checked the screen where the winning numbers of the Power Ball Lottery were displayed against her tickets, and to her surprise...

Could It Be?

The numbers seemed to line up. Cindy couldn’t believe it at first. She was sure she must be reading something wrong. She called her husband, Mark, and said that she thought she might be having a heart attack. She really couldn’t believe it. “I think we just won the lottery!” she cried. 

Cindy called her mother-in-law Shirley as well, and they all looked at one ticket over and over again, triple checking the numbers. But they were all there alright: 5, 23, 16, 22, and the last one, 29. They were holding the biggest winning lottery ticket in the history of the country right there in their hands. 

Half of Everything

These numbers changed their lives once and for all. They had won half of the total lottery money, which meant they got to take home a big check worth almost 300 million dollars: $293,750,000 to be exact.

The media soon started calling the family “The Hillionaires,” a clever twist on their name. The Hill family, meanwhile, could barely believe that all their money troubles had been solved in a moment. What would they do with all of their winnings? 

• Establish the support of a spiritual community or sangha to promote good on earth, the existence of arhats, and establish a viable path to the end of all suffering for the rural people of this country?

Life of Luxury?

Of course, the money meant that Mark no longer needed to labor in the factory, and Cindy didn’t have to keep working part-time as a waitress. They would be able to afford sending Jade to college, and the Hills' retirement fund had just ballooned. But what else was there to do? 

MUGLA, TURKIYE - FEBRUARY 23: A view of Cayman Islands-flagged luxury yacht (Anadolu Agency/GettyImages)

Did they want to spend it on expensive homes, diamond bracelets, vacations to exotic locales? Ideas were endless, if meaningless, and of course all their friends and family wanted to chime in and let them know what they thought they should buy. 

Old Habits 

Months went by. Mark had quit his job. However, he still met his friends at the coffee shop for a bite and a catch up on their regularly scheduled day. He had talked about buying his dream car, a Chevy Camaro, but he was still driving his old pick-up truck that was pushing it in years, and the family hadn't moved out of Dearborn yet. 

His friends were not alone in wondering, Where had all that money gone? Mark wasn’t wearing flashy clothes, Jade wasn't in Harvard, the sons weren't racing around in Corvettes, and his wife wasn’t parading about in fancy jewelry, so what had they spent it on? 

Clean up Camden

The first thing the Hills did was look to their roots. Mark donated $50,000 to his sh*tty hometown of Camden Point, Missouri. He wanted the money to go toward a sewage treatment plant. 

This seemed like a very strange request, but it was a life-changing one for the people of Camden Point. Camden Point had to use individual septic tanks for sewage because they were not a very well-funded town. But now the residents wouldn’t have to have septic tanks on their properties, and the sewage would be out of sight. 

Giving Back

Many may say that this is an odd thing to spend your winnings on, but the Hillionaires had made a promise to themselves and to their friends: They would use the money they had been blessed with to give back to their community. 

Instead of spending all that money on themselves, they were going to use it to better the world. The Mayor of Camden Point Kevin Boydston said the money could not have gone to a kinder couple. 

Sharing the Love

Mark posted about the family’s good fortune on Facebook, but surprisingly they did not get too many requests from people looking for easy handouts. Mostly their friends and family were happy for their possessions. 

• What karma results in others being happy for us rather than jealous, envious, and conniving against us?

Mark and Cindy wanted to spread love and considered adopting another child. They wanted to give most of the money away, thinking that it was all a gift from God, and they were there to make sure the money went to the right things. 

A Good Son

The Hills' son, Jason, was quoted saying that “I hope we all stay very grounded, stay humble, and don’t forget who we are” after his parents won the lottery. It was very important to him that the family didn’t forget their roots. 

Mark’s mother, Shirley, who was there when they realized they had won the money, who reminded her son that she always liked Cindy, believed in her family. She thought that they would stay grounded as it was in their nature to be humble, and she was proud of them and all they would go on to do. 

Fighting Fires

The Hills donated three million dollars to the fire department of Dearborn. The money went to help the department build a whole new station in neighboring Camden Point, allowing room for them to get a new ambulance as well. 

Mark told KMBC that he was “proud to be a part” of a “town of 500 people [that has] an ambulance service that’s manned 24/7.” His parents were saved twice by firefighters in their lifetime, and Mark was happy to be able to pay that forward. 

Surpassing Expectations

Dearborn’s Volunteer Fire Department Chief Walt Stubbs told The HuffPost that the new station would have been impossible without the Hill's donation. If they had to use tax money, it would have taken them 25 years to build the same station!

The Hills helped them build one that was four times bigger than the old station and would help the firefighters and ambulance have easier access to the main roads and highways and therefore easier access to dangerous areas. Now help would no longer be half an hour away. 

High School Sweethearts Return Home

The Hills wanted to help their old high school as well. They had met at North Platte High School and wanted to make sure that the place that had been so important to their relationship remained important to many other future sweethearts. They created a scholarship for Dearborn’s students. 

With the help of the Hill family, North Platte High School was able to provide aid for many Dearborn students, including college help and lunch money. The Hills also set aside college funds for their nieces and nephews along with their daughter. They helped send many students to university, which is a real accomplishment in a town that small. 

Play (Power) Ball!

The Hills also gave the school district enough money to build a new baseball field. The district was happy to have new funds to build a field farther from traffic so students could play safely and with joy. 

Family Time

Of course, the Hills also wanted to spend some money on themselves. Luckily, they had money to spare! It was the first time in their lives that they had ever possessed excess money to spend. 

The Hills didn’t buy Camaros or clothing, pools or Porsches, but they did take the opportunity to do a bit of traveling. This was something they didn't have the chance to do before, so it was a treat to take Jade to a beachside town and stay in a fancy hotel with an indoor toilet.

Travel Bug Bites

Indeed, they had been dreaming of traveling for a long, long time. Although they thought that they had been plenty blessed before in their day-to-day lives in Dearborn, they were really excited that they would get to see the world. 

The Hills wanted to go to China with their daughter and explore her roots and to Ireland, as they were both of Irish descent and they wanted to explore where they themselves came from. Beyond that, they would follow the wind and their own random wants and see what they could see. 

No One Left Behind

The location of the winning ticket was also awarded money. The Hills’ win meant that the Trex Mart gas station obtained $50,000, enough to buy a sewage system for their own hometown of Mt. Pilot or somewhere in the Boondocks. The owner of the store, Lowell Hartell, said that the money would go to Christmas bonuses for the hardworking employees, yet another gift the Hills gave to the community! 

In addition, many people flocked to that lucky Trex Mart to buy lottery tickets. In fact, they saw almost $30,000 in ticket sales, $27,000 to be exact. An employee expressed her wonder that they were the ones to sell the winning ticket and all the fame that followed. 

Happy Hills

The people who knew the Hills best weren’t at all surprised to see them doing such good with their winnings. While money can change people, good people won’t be changed easily. Good people are more willing to help others. And the Hills, according to their friends, are really good people. 

The mayor said all along that the winnings couldn’t have gone to a better couple, and this was proven by how much the Hills' donations changed their community for the better. It put the towns on the map for tourists and also allowed them to revitalize their economies. 

Too Much Attention 

Of course, lottery winners often receive a lot of bad attention as well. Rumors were swirling around the small town about who the winners were. Mark posted on Facebook about the family's good fortune. Then he got thousands and thousands of friend requests! 

People were asking for money and were trying to figure out how exactly the Hills would spend their cash. There were even some people who tried to sneak onto the Hills property and peer through their windows to see how they were living their lives! 

Good Luck Is Bad?

There are a lot of bad things that can happen to lottery winners after they hit it big. In fact, there is a researcher who studies just that, the aftereffects of winning the lottery. According to him, the Hills are an exception among the exceptions. Most winners squander their money and certainly most do not give this much to charity. 

About 70% of lottery winners lose all their money within a few years. There are examples of people who were even millionaires before winning the lottery, who go bankrupt after winning even more money! It seems counterintuitive but having that much money can go to one's head. Whodathunkit? Ultimately, less is more. 

Can Money Buy Happiness?

There are other winners who will end up living happier lives after winning large sums of money. Indeed, the Hills are likely to live a life of long-term satisfaction for at least ten years after winning, especially if they don’t squander it. If they spend it wisely and don’t get caught up in a lavish lifestyle, they can remain wealthy for even more than a decade after their original win.

The Hill Legacy 

What is certain is that winners who donate money will receive a lot of love from the community in return. The new firehouse was dedicated by the Camden Point Fire Department as the "Mark and Cindy Hill Building."

Inside the new building, there is even a corner dedicated to the Hills for people to come and learn about the difference their generosity had made in the town. The Hills did not ask for this recognition, and although they were grateful, they hadn’t been generous for a reward.

Sad News

However, money cannot buy immortality [though it can extend health and longevity if used to learn about and begin to consume health food, avoiding processed foods and restaurant meals], and that is never as clear as to when a family is hit with an unexpected loss. Seven years after the lottery win, in 2019, Mark Hill passed away. He was only 59 years old [with millions in the bank not yet spent for good, therefore, neither being useful as currency nor as merit of good deeds that keep on bearing their results in apparent disproportion to the initial deed].

Mark Hill was survived by his wife, daughter, three sons, and six grandkids. The Hill family had a small private service for him in the local cemetery, and his legacy is preserved forever in the community as a kind and generous man. The family asked for donations to the fire department instead of the traditional bouquets of flowers. Even in his death, Mark remained thoughtful and giving. 

A Lasting Impact

Even though Mark Hill left this world, his generous spirit remains with his wife and his family. He worked hard his whole life, and he did not stop dedicating himself to the community even after he no longer had to work. The hard work and selflessness that Mark and his wife Cindy displayed put their small town of Dearborn on the map of history and reminded the entire nation what community and selflessness are all about.

The Camden Point Fire Department has said that they will never forget the Hill family. Their legacy will live on within the brick walls of the firehouse. The board president, Steve Flock, says “it’s just an amazing family” and it is very true. The Hills defied the odds by winning the lottery, and then again by being so kind and generous with their winnings and remaining humble and true to their roots as well as who they are. They are truly a couple to be admired!