How Much Are You Worth?
The other day at work, a customer handed me a 66 year old penny. You'd imagine that, being so old, it would be pretty gross from its circulation over the years... but this particular penny was shining like it was brand new, and it caught my attention immediately. Even though the customer used it for the value of the face on the coin, I knew right away it was more than just an ordinary penny. My friend at work so graciously replaced the coin with another copper penny so I could keep the one that I had found.
After coming home and "google-ing" this particular 1943 Silver-Colored Penny, I reviewed some interesting history that I had forgotten and discovered some new interesting facts. I discovered that the 1943 Silver-Colored Wheat Penny is a wartime issued penny made of steel and coated with zinc. During World War II, copper was desperately needed to make shell casings for the war efforts, so the U.S. Penny was made out of steel that year, which is why most 1943 pennies are silver-colored. It turns out they are worth 12 to 15 cents each, in circulated condition, and as much as 50 cents or more if uncirculated. Yes, there are a few error coins known from 1943, where the penny was accidentally struck in copper. They are extremely rare, but nonetheless, the silver-colored penny was certainly enough to catch my attention.
Just today, I sat down at my computer desk and looked down to see the penny sitting there. Instantly, I felt like God wanted me to have this particular 1943 penny for a reason. I instantly thought, "I am like this 1943 penny." I can look at myself and say, "I'm just a penny," and use myself as if my value was only one cent. "That's all I have to offer to the world: one cent." And others may do the same, seeing Previous President Abraham Lincoln's face, and say, "You are just a penny... I can only give in return something with the equal value of one cent." But God helped me realize again that even though we may look the same as other people in some ways, we ALL have a special worth about us... something that time cannot fade... something that the storms in life (the wear & tear from circulation) cannot destroy, if we realize our value.
We have a value and a purpose bigger than what we may feel at times. It's easy to let yourself feel like you are not worth much at all to the world, either by your own voice speaking to you or by the voice of others, but we are all like this 1943 Silver-Colored Wheat Penny. We can realize our true worth. That penny, even in 66 years of circulation, is worth 12 to 15 times the worth of an ordinary penny value, and in some cases a penny of its kind is 50 times more valuable or even more. And just think of all of the lives the penny affected, all of the many places it traveled, all of the children whose eyes glowed from looking at it shine, all of the smiles it brought to probably millions of faces, the countless hours the penny was admired... it gives me chills just thinking about it. And here it is today, 66 years later, doing the same incredible things, shining with very little sign of a blemish. Sure, it's not completely perfect without a scratch at all, but in my eyes, it shows more worth being circulated affecting the lives of people than if it had not touched the hand of any person for 66 years.
So, how much are you worth? You decide. God made you special in more ways than this coin can compare, but what we can realize is that we can be the type of person to recognize our own worth and the worth of others. One must open his/her eyes wide to see that worth in others and to know his/her own true worth. "Don't sell yourself short" seems like such a cliché of a phrase, but in this case, it is very appropriate. Are you gonna look at your face in the mirror and say to yourself, "I'm just an ordinary person; what can I really accomplish in life?" or are you going to see that there is truly no limit to how much you may be worth to yourself and to others? It's up to you alone you to recognize this worth, and the more you do, the more others will act accordingly. When you feel & act like a million bucks, people treat you like you are a million bucks. If you feel & act like you are worthless, people react in a way that agrees with how you feel about yourself. If you treat others like they don't mean anything to you, then they go away feeling more insecure & worthless than before you interacted. If you treat others like they are priceless, they usually go away with a smile feeling better than before you interacted with them. Know your worth, and know the true priceless value of others. It will make your life so much better.
