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I put a dollar into the vending machine to buy a 75¢ snack. I reached down for my change and there was an extra quarter in the change dispenser that someone had forgotten.

I couldn’t help it — I immediately thought “Ooo! An extra quarter!” I was all excited about that quarter. I put it away and smiled about it for a couple of hours. (Probably because it brought back memories of finding change when I was a little kid. But also because, hey, free unexpected money.)

What’s funny about this is that the previous day, I’d gotten a check in the mail that I hadn’t been counting on EVER actually receiving. It was for over a thousand dollars. “Ooo!” I thought, “The check! It really came!” I immediately told my husband that we got the check, and told a few other people about it as well.

One person asked me what we were going to do with the windfall. I went blank for a second. “Uh. I don’t know, put it in the bank?” was my response.

Of course we’re happy that we (finally!) got the money, but it’s kind of funny that my reactions to both incidents were so similar despite the disparity in dollar amounts: Pleased surprise, followed by putting the money away. What a difference from what my reactions would have been like when I was in my 20s. Then I would have needed that quarter. That could have bought me two “dinners” (crackers & a water) at work. And a thousand dollars? Wow. What a huge difference that would have made.

Both then and now, I put the money to work for me in one way or another. I enjoyed getting it, and was happy about it. But my attitude has shifted from desperation to just gratefulness. I don’t think it’s coincidence that more money has seemed to come into my life since I started thinking about it differently, either.

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