Have you ever found some paper money in your jeans? A coat? An old puse?

If so, was it wadded up? Partially torn? Faded?

If not, just keep looking. I have known many people who have found money that they forgot about in all those places, and more.

If you have, congratulations. What is funny to me is that many times we will get more excited about finding this lost money than if someone were to give us the same amount as a gift. There is just something special about finding what had been lost. (This topic will probably make for a different post in the future.)

My main message today is this: the wadded up, partially torn, and faded $20 bill that you found is now worth only…

…$20.

That is right. Even though the paper is no longer clean and crisp, it is still worth the EXACT SAME AMOUNT as the day you lost it. Pretty cool, huh?

Well, guess what? The same is true for YOUR LIFE.

There was most likely a time in the past when your life was “clean and crisp.” Your life was uplifting and exciting. It had a certain “value” in your eyes.

And then Life happened.

Your hopes and dreams were delayed. And delayed again. Then maybe they were utterly destroyed. If that is your story, I have three things to say to you:

1 – I am sorry;

2 – Welcome to the human race, and;

3 – Your life is now worth…

…EVEN MORE!

You read that right. Your once clean, crisp life with its hopes and dreams – that has since been wadded up and torn beyond recognition – is now worth more than it was in the beginning. Why?

Because now you can relate to more people. You can share with others how messed up your life became, and how you overcame your challenges. Your $20 bill has now become worth a lot more than $20 because you have ADDED VALUE through overcoming your life’s challenges. What you thought was a curse can actually become a blessing – both to you and to others.

But only if you DECIDE to look at it that way.

You have a choice to make in life: you can take the negative events in your life, and BECOME BITTER, or you can take those same events and decide to BECOME BETTER.

Decide today to choose to look at your life experiences as events that made you stronger. By doing that, your wadded up life can actually become something Priceless.

You can do it. I believe in you.