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What Would You Do With a Billion Dollars? December 21, 2009

Posted by atharkhan in : Personal , 6comments

What would you do if you suddenly received a billion dollars?

I’ve asked this question of a few people and interestingly enough, there seems to be a highly similar pattern of responses.

First, everyone seems to start out with wanting to pay off debts. That makes sense. And, I am sure Maslow would find this predictable.

Second, people express a desire to make sure that family and loved ones are taken care of. That makes sense too. Once one has satisfied one’s own basic necessities, it’s only natural to want to do the same for one’s family.

Third, people express a desire to travel and buy extravagant and (usually) useless things.

But if I keep asking “okay, what would you do next?,” everyone seems to want to spend time with family, indulge in a creative pursuit, and generally take things a little easier and slow down, etc.

My “data” is based on informal questions answered by a few (patient and understanding) friends. However, my guess is that their answers may be representative of most people out there.

So, I’m asking you because I am interested in learning — what would you do with a billion dollars?

If that number is too small, what would you do with a trillion dollars?

Invictus by William Ernest Henley December 13, 2009

Posted by atharkhan in : Personal , add a comment

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.