I love that you interviewed your friend about this. I believe that the statistics show that people end up "less happy" after winning the lottery, but it sounds like your buddy has a good head on his shoulders. He's able to keep it in perspective and still has a good internal drive to use the gifts that he has been given and contribute to society. If everyone was more like your friend, we would probably have fewer people living on "government assistance". I also love that he is thankful for all that he has.