Gambling vs Contentment

As I'm coming back into my work building from lunch today I have to avoid the queue of people lining up to get their Lotto forms in before the Tuesday night draw (see photo). I did some research and found out that the chances of winning Lotto are one in eight million (while the chance of your marriage failing is 2.3 to 1). We live in a gambling obsessed society. I've noticed the increased profile of sports betting on the TV recently. I'm sure if people put their money into an interest bearing account instead of spending it on lottery tickets, pokies, the T.A.B. etc. they would have quite a sizable amount after 20 years *1. Why do we gamble so much in this wealthy country of ours? I think its because we are not a very thankful nation. We take for granted the good things we already have and want more and more (the advertising industry doesn't help this). Maybe if we started more sentences with "I thank God that ..." perhaps we would be more content with the good things we already have. Why don't you give it a go over the next few days and see if it changes your perspective on life.

*1 Australians gamble $16 billion per year. This equates to $1194 per adult head of population. Invested over 20 years at 3% = $33,000.