You’re invited to take an adventure with me to a different world! Anyone can take this trip, whether you are young or old, healthy or sick, and whether you consider yourself rich or poor. You don’t need to buy a ticket, sell your house, or quit your job.

 

The journey you will take is across the paths of your mind and the recesses of your heart. But it’s not merely an intellectual exercise. For some of you, this adventure will catch you off guard. It will knock you off-balance until you find your footing again. If you invite God to go with you, it has the potential to transform the way you see your life and the world around you. It may cause you to question the way things are and compelled by how they could be. Along the way you might feel both humbled and blessed, impoverished and enriched at the same time. In the end, I think you’ll be thankful for having walked the path and find your heart strengthened.

 

Let’s start right now!

 

Day one:
Take a one dollar bill. Put it where you will see it throughout the day, every day, like the bathroom mirror, the refrigerator, the TV or computer screen, wherever you will see it often.

 

Whenever you see this one dollar bill today, think about what that one dollar means to you. What could you buy with it? Start noticing how the transactions you make today. Plan to do this each day of this journey. When I first created this exercise for myself, I noticed the yogurt I ate for a snack cost me 50 cents, a tea bag 15 cents. I bought a pack of gum that cost nearly the whole dollar. A bottle of water, almost free at home, cost nearly two whole dollars at the convenience store. So did a can of pop and a candy bar. Don’t make judgments about your purchases. Simply take notice. Awareness is at the beginning of all change in the world, in our minds, and in our hearts.

 

Take a look at your checkbook and credit card statement for the last month. I’m not asking you to judge them, just take notice. Ponder how easy is it to get what you want when you have one dollar or a handful of dollars? How far do you have to travel to buy what you need or want? Is it readily available?

 

This may seem strange to you to think about one dollar and perhaps not much of an adventure. But ask yourself, “What if this one dollar was ALL I had to live on for one day, every day?” How would you feel if you lost your very last dollar? What would you do? Where would you turn for help?

 

At the end of the day, talk with God about what you’ve noticed about the one dollar in your life today. Ask Him to reveal more of Himself to you, even as you sleep.