I Heart Penny

I love pennies.

There, I've said it. Now that it's out there, I'm not ashamed to tell you that I hunt for them, eyes to the ground in every parking lot, searching for that fleck of a shiny orange portrait of Lincoln. Most of the time the pennies I find have seen better days and bear marks from their hapless journey that ended in a dirty parking lot or bathroom floor. But I love them anyway.




I'm afraid I've passed this love affair on to my children. Ask them why they pick up pennies and they'll quote to you what I've been telling them for years and that is, "There's value in every penny, because you can buy anything you want with one. You just have to get enough of them together." I couldn't be more proud of my kids and the pennies are thankful to not have to lay in the pools of filth. Or at least that's what I choose to believe.

But my love affair with pennies is not why I chose to write tonight. A few minutes ago, at a rest stop on I-75 in Kentucky, I was giving the dog a chance to stretch his legs. As we strolled through the parking lot, my boys caught up to me. They knew what I was doing already and didn't really ask, but in a playful recognition said, "Whatcha doin' Dad? Looking for pennies?" I grinned and confirmed their suspicions.

Then it happened. One of the boys asked why I look for pennies and not the more valuable coins. I thought quickly, because as their Dad I have to have an answer. How I responded made me think hard after the conversation ended and is the reason for this post.

I told them that I always look for pennies because if I only sought the more valuable coins, I'd be disappointed with finding a penny. So by looking for pennies, I'm always thrilled to find its silver brothers.

Think about that for a moment.

At first thought, you may accuse me of teaching my children to lower their expectations when I should be urging them to shoot for the moon. I thought that too. Then I pondered it some more.

What I decided was that this simple interaction with my children injected a principle into their lives. A principle that says to set obtainable goals, like finding a penny. And in exercising over and over again the discipline required to achieve that goal, you will find great and unexpected rewards along the way, like those 1964 Kennedy Half Dollars made mostly of pure silver or a rare Morgan Silver Dollar. Which, by the way, are worth way more than their face values to collectors and even more to silversmiths. True story. But I digress.

We climbed back into my soccer mom van and got back on the road from one of the cleanest rest stops I've ever visited. I began to smile to myself, not because I had found a penny, because alas, I did not. But because I had my first real experience to share with you.

So let's bring it home. What disciplines are you practicing in your life? Do you set obtainable goals for yourself or are you always determined to run before you crawl, often times becoming discouraged because you fall flat on your face? Are you faithful to those disciplines required to achieve your goals or do you waiver in your commitment?

The rewards are great for the faithful. For those willing to set obtainable goals.

I'm going to wrap up this post, because we've arrived at our destination and I've got a parking lot to scour and a penny to find.