Wow! What an awesome three days off. I'm so grateful for such a fantastic opportunity to get back in touch with my spiritual self and back on track with my destiny. On my birthday, I went down the street to the park, sat in the shade by the water, and listed all the things I would do if the impossible happened and I was suddenly given a billion dollars. If I'm going to live with a quiet expectation of abundant blessing, I sure as heck had better know what I'll do with it when it gets here.
Mostly, what I came up with was entrusting chunks of the money to other people. I have a few friends who are really resourceful who would really go to work putting the money to good use. I would put one of my friends in charge of distributing funds to women's shelters. There are unfortunately a lot of women stuck in abuse relationships who only stay there because they feel they have nowhere else to go. Many choose to stay because they are too emotionally damaged to be able to believe for something better, but many are just too afraid of losing their sole source of support. I know; I've been there before. I might have stayed in my first marriage if I didn't have a safe place to escape to with my mother, and my first marriage was not a safe place for me to be in.
Another friend is very active in the Seattle arts community. I would employ her to reach out in creative ways to help raise money for the community. She could organize concerts to benefit the local children's hospital, conduct charity auctions to distribute the work of local artists, and plan dance/dinner parties.
One of the most important improvements needed in Seattle, in my humble opinion, is public restrooms. I know it's difficult, and expensive, to avail the public of sanitary restrooms, but it would really go a long way in helping to promote tourism in our city. Transients tend to take advantage of them, and it's remarkably sad how little people clean up after themselves, but free public restrooms in a few strategic areas of the city would really go a long way toward servicing our visitors.
The key to managing a billion dollars is not to spend it all trying to take care of everyone myself but to use the money as a tool for getting other people involved in contributing to the causes they believe in. Fund raisers are essential. Even if I could fork over the cash to pay for all the improvements on my own, it wouldn't do a whole lot of good. People take pride in what they contribute to, what they help to get accomplished. I wouldn't want to rob other people of that sense of satisfaction you get knowing you did something to help make a difference.
Mostly, what I came up with was entrusting chunks of the money to other people. I have a few friends who are really resourceful who would really go to work putting the money to good use. I would put one of my friends in charge of distributing funds to women's shelters. There are unfortunately a lot of women stuck in abuse relationships who only stay there because they feel they have nowhere else to go. Many choose to stay because they are too emotionally damaged to be able to believe for something better, but many are just too afraid of losing their sole source of support. I know; I've been there before. I might have stayed in my first marriage if I didn't have a safe place to escape to with my mother, and my first marriage was not a safe place for me to be in.
Another friend is very active in the Seattle arts community. I would employ her to reach out in creative ways to help raise money for the community. She could organize concerts to benefit the local children's hospital, conduct charity auctions to distribute the work of local artists, and plan dance/dinner parties.
One of the most important improvements needed in Seattle, in my humble opinion, is public restrooms. I know it's difficult, and expensive, to avail the public of sanitary restrooms, but it would really go a long way in helping to promote tourism in our city. Transients tend to take advantage of them, and it's remarkably sad how little people clean up after themselves, but free public restrooms in a few strategic areas of the city would really go a long way toward servicing our visitors.
The key to managing a billion dollars is not to spend it all trying to take care of everyone myself but to use the money as a tool for getting other people involved in contributing to the causes they believe in. Fund raisers are essential. Even if I could fork over the cash to pay for all the improvements on my own, it wouldn't do a whole lot of good. People take pride in what they contribute to, what they help to get accomplished. I wouldn't want to rob other people of that sense of satisfaction you get knowing you did something to help make a difference.
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