A Single Penny

"Change your thoughts and you change your world." ~ Norman Vincent Peale

Have you considered lately the value of a coin, more specifically a penny? This small little coin just seems to be of very little value. I am talking about those copper colored one cent coins we rarely give attention to.

While on a trip once, I had stopped for a quick bite to eat. Fast food is not normally in my diet but time was of the essence. My food bill came out to nine dollars and two cents. In most chain restaurants, rarely would you not pay those small and insignificant two cents. You might find in other locally run establishments a penny jar to add or share from.

At this particular chain restaurant, the young woman behind the counter returned my change and did not make me pay those two cents. She merely said thank you for my business and to have a great day. The gesture of two pennies not paid caught me by surprise yet it was a pleasant surprise.

Now two pennies for most people is a very small amount. Two cents will no longer buy you anything. The value of each is so tiny that some have called for our monetary system to eliminate them completely. Many people would rather we simply round up or round down to the nearest nickel coin.

A single penny, a single kind gesture has enormous value.

Those two pennies at the restaurant and the kind gesture made a huge impact on how my day was going. The smallest of things we do in life are much like those single shiny pennies. Each has the ability to put a smile on the face, a warmth in the heart and shine brightly upon another.

As luck would have it, I returned to the restaurant later in the day with a co-worker. It was convenient, we were hungry. This time our food bill came out such that the change being returned to me was three cents. An odd turn of the coin I suppose.

The same woman was behind the counter and I looked at her and told her to keep the three cents. I owed her with interest from her kindness in the morning. I told her to have a great day and she smiled.

The acts of kindness had only amounted to five cents, an amount you can now start to purchase things. But it all started with those single one cent pennies; those seemingly worthless pennies.

The small gestures or small things we do in life all have value.

Never throw out a penny, never look down on the smallest or what seems to be meaningless. Everything you do in life, every gesture, every act of kindness has value. And when someone asks "a penny for your thoughts" one day, know that the transaction has great value.

Stay inspired my friends!