found a nickle!

I love finding money on my runs- I stop, pick it up, jam it in my pocket and run off with a smile. Getting home, I'll set it on one of our cars, one of Debi's knick-knack boxes, rarely do I put it with my change... there's something special about found money. Don't think I'd like to find a $20- or more... I'd feel bad for whoever lost it. Once found $120- in an envelope on the side of the road... it had an address and we were able to find the sender and return it. I've found numerous wallets, credit cards and so many other random pieces of life left on the side of road. But spare change is my favorite still, makes me smile, feel like an elementary school kid.

I've noticed that many people consider change a pain- they'll do anything, donate towards whatever cause, leave a cheap tip at Starbucks just to rid themselves of it. My generation had coin jars- coin bottles- usually old 5 gallon Sparklets water bottles where we kept our savings. They easily held in excess of $1,000-, I know... been there, done that. Change was an invitation to hope: a trip to Europe, someday a downpayment, a car, it represented possible, positive, change... in simple change.

It's a lost legacy. Maybe that's what makes me feel just a little thrill when I find a nickle, dime, quarter... or even a penny on the road. Debi already put the one I found today in her money jar... hope... change... who knows, maybe my Christmas present!?!

If I were king of the world, or in charge of a world that holds change in disdain, I'd invite everyone to empty their pockets of change each day and hurl it towards the gutter. Soon the gutters would glitter with hope, kids could pick up a little piece of purpose just walking down the road, no one would need to panhandle and me... my runs would take forever... I'd never make it home but our coin jar would always be filled and it'd be hard not to start every day with a smile.

I found a nickle today on my run, put it in the little change pocket in my running shorts and thought of world of change... what a bargain! It's a change in thinking, give it a try. If you enjoy change- pick it up, look at it in wonder and leave it somewhere around the house. If change isn't your kind of thing- empty your pockets and throw caution to the wind and let the gutters glitter -someone's waiting for a better day, a shiny nickle of hope. It might be me.

Tune in to the song of the day on the side bar - Ben Harper, singing about change
Click to hear music file