As winter makes way for spring, change is literally in the air.  The temperature is starting to warm, plants are beginning to bloom, and life is starting anew. Many people fear change, but it is a fact of life, and should be welcomed. For, like plants, it’s change that allows us to grow.

Because all life is change, I’d argue it’s one of the most important words in the dictionary and should be explored in this week’s weekend word.

change
CHānj/

noun

  1. make or become different.
  2. take or use another instead of.

verb

  1. the act or instance of making or becoming different.
  2. coins as opposed to paper currency.

To change means to make or become different. This process can be voluntary (goal setting), or involuntary (biological).

If you notice, there’s another, completely different, meaning for change as well. It’s the type of change that refers to the monetary coins sitting in your wallet, piggy bank, car console, etc. I’m fascinated by homonyms and how they came about. But in this case I can’t seem to find why, or at what point, society started referring to coins as change.

However, I would like to offer my own theory. The purpose of a coin is to exchange it for something else such as a good or service. Therefore, coins are literally change. If I make a purchase from a store, I’m changing my coins into a product. Perhaps this is how we evolved coins into the verbal slang form – “change.”

change

According to a Coinstar survey, the average person estimates they have about $26 in spare change, but the average value of coins cashed is $56. Meaning you may have more change around the house than you think. Here’s the question – Do you really miss it? Its $56 that you didn’t know existed, it’s out of your budget. It may be “pocket” change to you, but could have a significant impact for a charitable cause.

At Hope for Hearts, $56 could help provide a month’s worth of meals for four children at our schools/orphanages in Uganda.  That’s another month four children won’t have to worry about going hungry while they work hard to earn an education that will lift them from poverty to prosperity.

You can literally create change with change, and in the process you’ll change yourself and the life of a stranger halfway around the world.

So my question to you is… can you spare some change?

With Love,
Cristen