Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for
wisdom? Here's what you do: Live well, live wisely, live
humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts.
James 3:13 [The Message]
Joe Green was a college roommate of Mark Zuckerberg [the co-creator of Facebook], and was there with the Internet entrepreneurs in the Harvard dorm where Facebook was born. He was asked by Zuckerberg to drop out of school and join him in creating the social media network. The two had gotten into hot water with the school over a previous venture and were threatened with expulsion, a fact which made Green's father none too happy. Green gave his roommate's offer considerable thought, then told him "no." Rather than following Zuckerberg and his team to Silicon Valley, Green stayed at Harvard to get his degree and dabble in his passion for politics, working for Kerry in the 2004 presidential campaign.
As Facebook is primed for its initial public offering, the media have taken to calling Green's decision his "$400 million mistake." After all, his friend Zuckerberg's worth is currently estimated at $17+ billion. Green has no regrets, however. He is back working with his Facebook friends, but running a for-profit business called Causes, an application and website that lets friends suggest a charity, a social cause, or even a political candidate for other friends to contribute to. Green's goal is to ...empower anyone with a good idea or passion for change to impact the world." Green's company has raised $50 million for 50,000 charities, and Cause's Facebook page has 6.5 million active monthly users.
Did Joe Green make a mistake eight years ago? He certainly doesn't think so. In his own way, in his own time, Green found his own cause - helping other people. He firmly believes that "Everyone has the ability inside of them to make a difference." Jesus would heartily agree.
I'm a musician, currently studying at university. I was recently in a situation where for me, and for many other people around me, my saying no would have been the wise, mature thing to say. Unfortunately, my vision at the time was blinded by the joys of youth, freedom, and just the influences of other people. i wish i had said no. i am now in the worst position i have ever been in before in my life. i know that the consequences for my actions are by far not over, even though i know i messed up, i let people down, i lost people that cannot by any means be replaced, i let myself down, and worst of all i let Him down; even through all this, i know that, though it may seem impossible and unclear right now, God has a purpose for everything, for every last event in my life. And though i may feel down and out right now, i know that with Him everything is possible.
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