The story of the coin

Struggle builds warriors.

My son likes coins. He collects them, takes them willingly when others offer and doesn’t hesitate to pick them up off the ground. He’s been teaching me some good lessons lately. 

We were out and about and he found a quarter wedged between some candy machines. He, of course, found a way to retrieve it.  But, after putting the coin in his pocket, he sat down beside me. We heard a faint chink of metal on concrete, and the coin was gone. I saw a struggle building in him.

He stopped. He had to find his coin. It was pitch black and we were in theater seats getting ready to watch a movie. I told him he had minutes to look. 

On hands and knees with my phone light he started searching. First, he came up with a nickel. Then, he found the quarter.  

Yes, struggle builds warriors, and he was one.

I told him to remember this moment … to remember that losing gives you the opportunity to look for treasure.

It’s easy to see loss and think life has been taken from us. Sometimes it feels as if we’ve been stolen from. Things that aren’t going right often seem they are there to make us miserable. But, what if those are the things meant to make us look for treasure. What if we’re on the ground so we can find our greatest gifts?

Struggle also:

+ reveals warriors

+reveals weakness AND …

+shows us what we really believe.

Struggle lets us know what type of warrior we are.

When we see treasure in the middle of our mess … then when we know what we’re made of.

Our triumphs are important, but when we falter we have the opportunity to become stronger. It’s not given, of course, but if we’re looking for the opportunity we’ll become diamonds.