Seizing Opportunities

Multi-billionaire Warren Buffet was said to have invited one of his first employees to invest in his company when it was first starting out. The secretary's husband had just inherited money and was looking to invest. Had the secretary and her husband cast their lot with Buffet, they would be billionaires with a buffet of life enjoyments to choose from.

Yahoo in 2006 offered to buy Facebook for $1billion. At that time, MySpace was the ultimate social networking site and had 100 million members vis-a-vis Facebook's then 8 million members. When Yahoo's stock dove, Yahoo scaled down it's offer to $800 million and Mark Zuckerberg was told to "take the money and run."  To his credit, Zuckerberg stuck to his guns. Today, Facebook is said to be worth between $5-10 billion with 250 million  registered members.  Since his milestone decision, Zuckerberg has gained fame and a thinly-veiled movie about Facebook has been made.

Last night I turned down an invitation to have dinner at a good Italian restaurant. I stepped on the weigh scale this morning and with relief found my weight to be what I want it to be. I may have missed out on a gastronomic delight but I felt good about how I look.

These days many who care enough to monitor the ongoing talks  in Congress about the Fiscal Cliff wait with anxiety for the outcomes of the horse trading. Will our country's leaders end up leading us into the muck or will it seize a sterling opportunity to show the world that  democracy does indeed work for the people and that capitalism can shed its $$$$ face in favor of a human one?

Chances to do well arise in our lives like the sun comes up everyday.  Will we seize these opportunities or miss out on them?

Photo by Corbis

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 - Ariel Murphy