Giving Thanks
I was a little too busy cooking to post this message on Thanksgiving but I didn't want to let the opportunity pass without my giving thanks. I recognize that I was one of the winners in "The Ovarian Lottery," a term coined by Warren Buffett. I am truly grateful for being born at a time and in a country where I have the opportunities and freedom to pursue my dreams.
Be Grateful -
There are roughly 6 Billion people in the world. Imagine the worlds biggest lottery where every one of those 6 Billion people was required to draw a ticket. Printed on each ticket were the circumstances in which they would be required to live for the rest of their lives.
Printed on each ticket were the following items:- Sex-Race- Place of Birth (Country, State, City, etc.)- Type of Government- Parents names, income levels & occupations- IQ (a normal distribution, with a 66% chance of your IQ being 100 & a standard deviation of 20)- Weight, height, eye color, hair color, etc.- Personality traits, temperment, wit, sense of humor- Health risks
If you are reading this blog right now, I'm guessing the ticket you drew when you were born wasn't too bad. The probability of you drawing a ticket that has the favorable circumstances you are in right now is incredibly small (say, 1 in 6 billion). The probability of you being born as your prefereable sex, in the United States, with an average IQ, good health and supportive parents is miniscule.
Warren spent about an hour talking about how grateful we should all be for the circumstances we were born into and for the generous ticket we've been offered in life. He said that we should not take it for granted or think that it is the product of something we did - we just drew a lucky ticket. (He also pointed out that his skill of "allocating capital" would be useless if he would have been born in poverty in Bangladesh.) http://darrenjohnson.blogspot.com/2005/04/wisdom-of-warren-buffett.html
No comments:
Post a Comment