A person on Twitter asked the question wondering if people pick up pennies and other random change they find on the ground. I was excited to see that there are a lot of people out there, just like me, who are thrilled to find lucky pennies. My husband and I have a lucky rabbit bank in our bedroom, full of change which we have found over the years.
Many people who answered her question subscribed to the belief that these are “pennies from Heaven” intentionally sent from loved ones who have passed on. Some people stuck by strict rules. They said you could only pick the penny up, if it was heads up, for good luck. Tails meant bad luck if you picked it up. Some people said that they purposely flipped the coin to heads, for the next person to pick it up. Other people said that they intentionally dropped pennies on the ground, knowing that it would make others feel happy and lucky to find them.
Some Canadians scoffed that we Americans still have pennies. Apparently Canada stopped minting pennies a few years ago, because it actually costs more than a penny to mint a penny. I’ve decided that this means if I find a Canadian penny (the pennies with the ever-present Maple leaf), these pennies are now extra lucky, because they are more rare, eh?
Some people answered that they picked up pennies and other change off of the ground, not for the luck factor, but because they respect the value of money. Some people intentionally kept tallies of the money they had found over the years and some of these figures were in the hundreds, and even a couple people claimed having found thousands of dollars, over the years. These responses reminded me of a time when I was trying to use up a bunch of heavy change, that I had in my purse, to pay for something. I was embarrassed by all of the change counting and I kept apologizing to the clerk. I don’t remember what I purchased, but I’ll never forget the man saying to me, “Never apologize for paying for something with your hard-earned money, no matter what form it comes in.”
Only a couple of people scoffed at picking up change off of the ground. I secretly felt sorry for them. These people are denying themselves some kind of intrinsic good feeling whether it be good luck, or reassurance, or nostalgic love, or security, or pride. They are essentially denying themselves whatever a unit of money could represent to them. Because as we all know, money itself is just some paper and some metal coins. Money itself is just a representation of a transfer of energy. Like so many things in life, money is just what you make it to be.
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.