Picking Up Pennies

A 3-Minute Read by James Ward.

Early in my professional career, I was living paycheck to paycheck in Austin, Texas and consistently had the problem my paycheck running out while there was still plenty of month left. By my calculation I needed an extra $200 each week to keep things afloat, so I decided to take a second job at the Pete’s Piano Bar on 6th Street. Not only would the cash from a handful of shifts each week make up the difference in my budget, but I wagered I would also get to enjoy a night out with some good music, minus a tab to pay for the fun.

This proved effective, and I went on to work various positions in the club for the next 5+ years as my other professional ambitions took root. I formed some phenomenal relationships in my time at Pete’s and learned a lot of lessons working at that club. One of those lessons has been front and center for me the last few weeks.

“Just like loose change, opportunities are all around us - so long as we’re actively looking and remain open to receiving them. ”

Customers were extremely generous with the musicians and servers, yet the employees tending the walk-up bars weren’t tipped at anywhere near the same level. One of the solutions that management came to priced drinks at a few dollars and $0.25, $0.50, or $0.75 on the end. For the bartenders, this meant that customers paying in cash would have a few extra quarters in change that would frequently be left on the bar as a tip.

Interestingly, this also meant there would be anywhere from $2-5 in quarters randomly littering the club floor at the end of each night. Finding those quarters became a game for me, and I was always on the lookout. I developed a keen eye and, during those years, no matter where I went, the shine of a loose change or the flutter of a stray bill on the ground would catch my eye, making my coin jar at home just a little bit heavier.

I was a man on a mission – I was rescuing lost currency just as eagerly (and successfully) as I was looking for opportunity to find my place in the professional world. If I was spending my days asking the Universe to open a door of opportunity, it seemed disrespectful and inconsistent to walk past anything It was willing to contribute, even a penny.

Around that time, I decided that no matter how far I went in life, I would always stop to pick up a stray penny as a way of saying, “Thank you Universe, I see you.” But, you know how it goes: Life happened. I never intentionally stopped picking up loose change, but I gradually saw less and less of it until…

Several years would pass without a single coin crossing my path.

This all changed for me a few months ago – I was on a morning walk, listening to a book on Audible, bundled against the brisk fall air as the world around me slept. Walking along my normal route, I was already 2-3 steps past when I realized I had stepped over a penny. My eyes saw it, my brain registered it, and I almost passed it up - until I remembered that commitment to my younger self.

The rest of the walk, I twirled the penny in between my fingers wondering how I, the rescuer of lost currency, had gone so long without seeing a stray, let alone making a rescue. I made the realization that I had lost the habit of looking - gradually at first, and then suddenly. I had become so fixated on where I was headed that I almost went past this one without a second thought.

I shudder to think of the opportunities I’ve missed over the years because I gave up the habit of looking while on my march toward today. Just like loose change, opportunities are all around us - so long as we’re actively looking and remain open to receiving them. When you see one, you get to choose to pick it up or pass it by. Someone will invariably pick it up sooner or later, but I like having first choice… just like with this little fella.

That December morning, I decided to wake up the part of me that looks for, recognizes, and takes decisive action toward opportunities in the world around me. In the time since, stray coins have begun appearing everywhere – two times ($0.26) this week alone!

Would you have picked this little guy up? Opportunities are everywhere (no matter how grim things may seem), I dare you to find yours…