What would you do?

On a, what I would call, regular basis, I meet up with a friend of mine for a burger, a couple of a great variety of beers, and some good conversation. Tonight, besides the interesting tales of his journey of riding plains literally around the world, we talked about our answers to a question I think that most of us have considered at some point. It's particularly relevant here given that the law just changed to allow the possibility of it without crossing state lines. "How much money would you want to win if you won the lottery, and what would you do with it?" We may not have consciously considered the first part of it as much as we have the second, but I do believe that most of us have fantasized about how our lives would be if we won "all that money." If this makes you think of your high school guidance counselor I'm sorry, but it's a great exercise for considering what you want to do with your life and what kind of person you are. For instance, if your response to the first part was "as much as I can", then you'll probably never be satisfied no matter how much money you have, but if you responded with something a little less infinite then you may be somewhat realistic and grounded (seems ridiculous to say given the chances of winning, but it's true). So, despite the realization that you may never be satisfied with how much money you have or make, what would you do if you had a lot of money? Would you do "two chicks at the same time", like Lawrence from Office Space? Or would you do "nothing" like Peter? I'd posit that most of us immediately think of how we'd like to experience life without work, such as one of my dreams of having a sailing yacht to tour much of the world and experience as much culture and people as I could. However, after a bit of thinking, you will hopefully consider how you, although on a smaller scale than Bill and Melinda Gates, can help the less fortunate of the world. My friend used the example of helping kids with cleft palates to afford the surgery to repair their socially unacceptable appearance, which could enormously enhance the quality of life of every one that is physically transformed. My thoughts, possibly because I listen to NPR too much, go to how do I get the self absorbed governor to stop being so selfish and pardon the man who 20 years ago was convicted of molesting two girls who recently admitted that it wasn't him. The only reason he won't do it is because he was the one who prosecuted him. There's a great deal more that can be said about either of these, but the main point is that each of us can make a huge difference in the life of someone else. Do you think that I'll make an impact on someone's life? What would you do if you were Bill Gates stepping down from Microsoft? What would you do if you were a toad like me? Please leave your comments.