Winning the lottery

How many times have you wished you'd win the lottery, retire from work, move into a big house and live in luxury forever?

British man Neil Chester did but is actually (sort of) regretting it. With his winnings, he bought a £1.8 million mansion on an 7.3 hectare estate in Hampshire, installing luxuries such as an indoor pool, sauna and cinema. But it's not all roses and sunshine.

His wife says, "In a small house you are always all together. Now I have to make a point of finding them – we don't even watch TV together as we are all in different rooms."

And of course, "You don't realise how expensive running it can be, and there are rooms we never use."

It really makes the cliche "money can't buy happiness" ring true.

Too often, we dream of earning or having huge amounts of money so that we don't need to worry about life and have a great lifestyle. But a lifestyle is created from our habits, from who we are. Money cannot change that. Yes, it may make life a little easier, but I believe eventually, we'd still have the same kind of troubles if we don't change our attitudes and habits.

As for a huge house with all sorts of luxuries. Just think of the little luxuries that you've bought yourself. How often have you used that blender? How often do you soak in a bath-tub? How often have you actually sat down to watch a movie?

We're always gathering stuff in the hopes of attaining some form of satisfaction and happiness, but when we actually have the means of doing so, we realise, life hasn't actually gotten any better.

As for a huge house? It looks nice and impressive and all, but I think all the cleaning it requires will drive me insane. I can't even keep my two-bedroom apartment clean!