QUESTION: RICH OR FAMOUS?

Have you ever played the question game?

It’s easy.

One person asks a question – or a set of questions – and another person answers them. (If you still don’t understand, you might want to stop reading because the rest of the post may literally make your brain explode.)

For some reason, this was always popular with my family and friends. We even had a book around the house when we were growing up, “The Book of Questions.”

Technology has taken the game to a whole new level.

I’m sure you’ve been forwarded an e-mail with a subject line that says something like “I want to know the real you” or “All I’ve ever wanted to know about you in 10 questions.”

Here are some of my favorites (with my answers):

Q: Would you be willing to murder

an innocent person if it would end world hunger?

A: Ummmm …. absolutely not.

Q: Would you be willing to eat a bowl

of live crickets for $40,000?

A: It really depends on the size of the bowl,

but more than likely…yes.

Q: If you could have one superpower

what would it be?

A: Duh…the ability to be invisible.

Here is one that almost always comes up:

Q: Would you rather be rich or famous?

My answer is…

First, I want to share a blurb I read in Reader’s Digest. (Don't worry... it's relevant.) It was a collection of short features that focused on “35 People Who Inspire Us.”

It also gave a brief explanation why they made the list this particular year.

The one that really caught my eye was Maria Shriver. She spoke up after reading that kids’ main goal these days is “to be famous.” At her nephew’s graduation she shared snippets from her book, “Just Who Will You Be?”

Here are a few excerpts from her speech:

• “Famous people always seem to look happy. They always look rich. They always look thin. But whatever
it’s worth – and since I’m kind of famous, it might be worth something – fame isn’t a worthy goal. Fame can’t make you happy.”

• “The only way you can come to feel good about yourself is to find your own path. Live your own life…”

• “So ask yourself what you want to be famous for…because you can be famous for doing something great, something that matters.”

• “We need famous people with integrity, character, and vision, people who want to lead, who want to make the word a more peaceful and compassionate place.”

Great stuff!

It confirms my decision….I choose both.

Believe it or not, that has been my answer for as long as I can remember.

Now, I can’t swear my choice of being famous never included bright lights and/or the big screen and/or thousands of screaming fans holding lighters into the air and/or a silver helmet with a big blue star.

And I can’t honestly say that I didn’t want to be rich for the fancy cars and big houses.

But that has changed over the years.

I want to be rich and famous so I can make a significant difference in the world.

By no means do I feel like I’m wasting my time and/or energy with the effort I’m giving right now – but I could do so much more with a “Celebrity Badge” and hefty bank account.

So what is a self-employed entrepreneur to do?

I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing until I sign that multi-million contract with the Cowboys, or I’m stopped at the mall by a Hollywood producer who thinks that I have “the look.”

The more I think about it, though….it comes down to how you define “significant.” With less than a $1,000 in my bank account and no hit single on the Billboard charts, I’m still making a difference. A BIG DIFFERENCE in some instances.

There is nothing like a little blogging

to open your eyes.

OTHER NUGGETS:

101 UPDATE...(click here to see complete list)

ON MY WAY (tasks started)

• No. 93 (Read 200 books)

I will definitely blog about his more later, but I just finished reading "Marley and Me" by John Grogan. It's about "life and love with the world's worst dog."

It's a must-read for all dog owners. (Warning: Have a box of tissues next to you – for the funny parts and the sad parts.)

ON THE HORIZON (upcoming tasks)

• No. 78 (Eat a "fried concoction" in front of Big Tex at the State Fair)

An article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on this year's "Fried fare for the fair," which runs Sept. 26-Oct. 19. The signature delights in 2008 will be fried banana splits and chicken-fried bacon.

MARK IT OFF... AGAIN (tasks completed)

• No. 32 (Inspire someone else to do 101 things)

Even though I’ve already marked this off my list, my friends Kimbra and Dave recently sent me their lists and said that I “energized” them to go for it!

Here are my favorites from their lists:

KIMBRA:
– No. 11 (Host a Jaws Pool Party)
I had to get additional information on

this in order to make it my top pick – it’s a pool party where they show “Jaws” on

a big screen. I was told it would probably include adult beverages and inflated “floaty sharks.”

NOTE: Kimbra also had two runner-up selections on her list – just because I

knew she was sending this to her mom and grandmother – No. 30 (Get a boob job) & No. 39 (Take a strip tease exercise class)

DAVE:
– No. 87 (Spend St. Patrick's Day in Shamrock, Texas, and stay at the U-Drop Inn) Until I Googled Shamrock, Texas, I wasn’t even sure where it was (in the Panhandle east of Amarillo), but you have to visit the town’s web site. It’s on Route 66 and looks very cool.

NOTE: Dave got points in my book for really extending himself, too. This may be the toughest task that I’ve seen on anyone’s list – No. 1 (Be Interviewed by Jay Leno for doing something GREAT!) Not that Dave isn’t going to do something great, but when I think of the “Tonight Show” I think of movie stars and comedians. (See blog post above)

QUOTEBOOK
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately; I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life; To put to rout all that was not life; And not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

– Henry David Thoreau