Small Practices Make A Big Difference

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Find a penny, pick it up. All day long you’ll have good luck”? If not, chances are you’re familiar with the superstition that finding a penny brings good luck. There are several stories about how this superstition became so common. One theory is that in some ancient civilizations, there was a belief that metals, such as copper, were gifts from the gods that protected people from evil. Another thought points to an old Irish business tradition where sellers would give their buyers a penny as a gesture of good luck after agreeing on a deal.

Whether you pick up pennies or any other coins, whether for superstitious reasons or simply to avoid wasting them, gathering coins serves as a prime example of what are known as accumulation opportunities. Coins hold little to no value on their own in modern times. When was the last time you purchased something for a nickel? Yet, over time, a dime here and a quarter there can eventually add up, even if it takes years to accumulate. Returning to pennies for a moment, the largest penny collection deposit in the world was made by Edmond Knowles in 2005. The manager of a service station exchanged 1,308,459 pennies at a bank in Flomaton, Alabama, yielding him $13,084.59!

This is exactly what accumulation opportunities are—small things that have little to no value by themselves but can make a big difference. Accumulation opportunities can serve as strategies for growing assets in financial planning, achieving health or fitness goals, and building personal habits. They’re even evident in nature, such as how waves or water can shape landforms and objects. This principle of accumulation opportunities can also be a key practice to our own spiritual formation.

Sometimes, spiritual practices that are new to us can be difficult to incorporate into our regular rhythms. It’s challenging to adopt new habits or behaviors. Take, for instance, saying a morning prayer when you wake up every day. That singular prayer in itself may not alter your prayer life, but when accumulated over time, this practice of daily morning prayer can build your spiritual muscle for prayer and grow into praying more often throughout the day. This same principle can be applied to other spiritual practices such as reading or memorizing scripture, entering times of silence and being still in contemplation of God.

Consider how you can start building some accumulation opportunities into your spiritual journey today. Maybe it’s related to prayer, such as starting to pray more with your spouse so that you share more of your faith together. Or it could be saving a Bible verse as a screen saver on your phone and reciting it every time you unlock the screen. If you spend a lot of time in the car, you could grow gratitude in your life by thanking God for something every time you are stopped at a traffic light. As you can see, you can put your own creative spin on the spiritual growth practices you want to engage more. The possibilities are endless! Regardless of what you implement, the principle’s the same —slowly but surely, accumulate these small steps and, over time, see the difference it makes in your life.