Throwing Money Away

I can't even imagine what it must be like to be a professional athlete, much less make the astonishing amounts of money they do for what are typically very short careers. But I was very taken by the story of Gil Meche, the Kansas City Royals pitcher whose contract called for a $12 million salary in 2011.

Meche, 32, has an injured shoulder. But instead of showing up at training camp, he opted to retire, which means he won't be collecting those big paychecks, as many injured players do.

“Once I started to realize I wasn’t earning my money, I felt bad," Meche told The New York Times. "I was making a crazy amount of money for not even pitching. Honestly, I didn’t feel like I deserved it. I didn’t want to have those feelings again.”

Try to envision a world in which the Winklevoss twins - or Mark Hurd - had that kind of attitude.