Sweepstakes fuel hopes, dreams of a nongambler

So you have this personal thing against gambling, but you would like to win something.

Well, something bigger than the cute stationery or devotional book you occasionally win as a door prize at an event.

Problem is, your reluctance to gamble and your desire to win something big don’t exactly go together. So what do you do? Yeah. You $ign up to win the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes.

And the HGTV Dream Home sweepstakes. And the HGTV Smart Home Sweepstakes. Heck, the Dumb Home Sweepstakes.

Despite those depressing stories about lottery winners who squander their money and soon end up broke again, we all dream about being given a shortcut to some semblance of Life of Riley-hood … especially if, for whatever reason, our hard work didn’t exactly lead to the American Dream. So, you enter online sweepstakes. Again and again and again.

If you’re like me — harboring a bad case of wanderlust but lacking the means to travel, not trying to go the credit-card route and feeling you can’t even afford those put-a-trip-on-layaway plans — you sign up for

just about every blessed trip sweepstakes you hear about.

The only thing you’ve won so far: Yet more junk email. Most of these sweepstakes require entrants to “sign up for our newsletter.” The sweepstakes also promise extra entries if you follow the sponsoring entities on Facebook, Instagram and whatever other social media account of yours that comes with a newsfeed they can possibly invade. These are in addition to those numerous travel newsletters to which you voluntarily subscribed during your fits of wanderlust.

Many trip sweepstakes contests are advertised on social media. Don’t click on the comments, however, if you don’t want to feel guilty for entering. They’re full of stories of couples who have never been

on a honeymoon; families who haven’t had a vacation in decades; and people who have had multiple health problems and would love to see the trip-sweepstakes destination before they pass on. And, inevitably, somebody making a snide comment about the comments — “No sob stories here. I just want to win.”

If the sweepstakes are sponsored by magazines, you’ll also find yourself “winning” chances to subscribe to print versions of said magazines for what are supposedly bargain prices. The email usually starts off in its subject line “You have been chosen to … ” (Oh wow! You chose me to buy something from you! Something that’s going to junk up my already cramped abode even more! Thanks, kind magazine folks!)

At some point, you sigh, tell yourself you’re foolish to enter these things and decide to give up and continue to live

vicariously through relatives, friends, acquaintances and associates who talk about their travels to the other side of the world as though they were weekend excursions to Memphis or Dallas.

But then you come across such articles as “Do People Really Win Sweepstakes?” at the website thebalance.com, which showcases eight real-life sweepstakes winners, including the guy who won the 2005 HGTV Dream Home. (Hey, he sold it after three years, but it was a positive experience.) And you notice there are other sweepstakes articles on the website … dose-of-reality articles about the taxes owed on these prizes, how to go about paying taxes on your prizes, types of sweepstakes you shouldn’t waste your time entering, how to avoid fraud and the encouraging “How To Beat Sweepstakes Burnout and Stay Motivated to Win Prizes.” Advises

the writer of another article, one about entering online contests: “Enter regularly and don’t lose patience. The secret to winning sweepstakes is patience, perseverance and a positive attitude.” Well, those and the ability to put up with extra junk mail.

So you put aside those feelings of foolishness and decide to enter one more sweepstakes. Because you definitely won’t win anything if you don’t enter.

Ideally, you decide to cultivate a bit more grateful attitude toward winning those inexpensive little door prizes someone took the trouble to prepare for you. And you continue to send up a few prayers that you’ll be granted the means to travel. You look to see if maybe — just maybe — you can spare a few extra dollars a month to put that trip on layaway.