Long, long ago, as the story goes, people used to think that finding a perforated coin brought good luck. Think of it as another version of the four-leaf clover. There was once a poor man who had not been very successful in his work and in life. But one day, miracle of miracles, he found a perforated coin. “Now that I have that coin, I’m going to succeed and prosper!” he thought. He kept the coin in a little pouch in his pocket, and every morning, he made sure that he could feel it and that it was with him before leaving the house. His life indeed changed. He became more successful at work. The more successful he became, the more he prospered. And the more he prospered, the more confident and admired he became. One day, he decided to look at his perforated coin – something he hadn’t done in a long time. So, he took the pouch out of his pocket and took the coin out.

But what came out was a coin that was not perforated.

Panicked, he ran to his wife. “This isn’t my coin!” he exclaimed.

“What happened? Who took my coin?”

“Your coat was dusty, so I shook it off through the window,” she explained. “I’d forgotten about your coin in the pocket, so it fell on the street. I ran downstairs and looked for it, but it was gone, nowhere to be found.

I thought you’d be upset, so I put a regular coin in your pouch and put it back in your pocket.”

“When did this happen?” the man asked.

“Two years ago!” his wife replied with a smile.

All this time, he’d trusted that his good luck coin was with him, and this was enough to give him the confidence he’d needed to succeed. But all along, the power and ability to succeed had been in him, not in the coin.