I have been observing a beggar across the street from my office window for about 15mins now. He’s a bit of a regular at this particular street corner and with some wondering I am guessing he scoped that place because there is a busy ATM, a large post box and a bookstore window where people tend to loiter and congregate before they cross at the lights at Bourke Street.

Now because of my memory for people and places (when I have interacted with them) I can share a bit more about him. He lives in the vicinity of Armadale train station in Melbourne (for those outside of Melbourne it’s a bit of a posh area), he is almost always clean and fresh, as are his clothes (he has different outfits, all with a gray drab theme). He ‘clocks on’ around 10am and is particularly badgering for money around lunchtime and 5pm. I’ve seen him asking people for money on the streets until as late as 10pm. And he’s been doing this activity for at least 4yrs. Sounds scarily like a job yeah.

He’s an active beggar in that he is always on the move, always standing, roaming, and continuously asking. Yet if there is no-one on the street his slumped posture becomes straight, his darting eye movements stop and he seems to take time out, and his scowl turns to a more neutral look. Then as soon as an office building door opens and someone walks down the street he assumes position. He assumes the look. And he asks. Interestingly more people seem to give him money as it starts to get dark. Lunchtime seems quite light on giving from my observation.

When I moved back to Australia after living in China for 8+ years, I was stunned by how many beggars were out and about in Melbourne, and how much of a routine many of them seemed to have. And it just stunned me why this was so, as everything seemed so opulent in Australia (a whole isle in supermarkets devoted solely to feeding, grooming and entertaining our pets seemed ridiculous, but that’s a whole other blog!).

Yes there are some crazy circumstances that drive people to be on the streets and beg, but the deeper I go into thinking about what drives people and what we are prepared to put up with makes me further realize our choices in life determine how we spend our day, whether they be conscious or unconscious choices.

So, what can we learn from this persistent begging gent? Let’s start with some great questions:

Are you putting yourself in the right place to be noticed at the moment?

Is there a trend you can follow or would it be more powerful if you set a new trend?

Is your timing right?

Is your audience right?

Is there another way that you could do what you do?

Are you asking for exactly what you want?

And is your message or pitch getting you the results you want?

Ahhh consciousness, what a gift. And the people who help us reach new consciousness levels, what treasures. Thank you to the people in my world who help me do just that, I am so grateful.

My suggestions to you to ponder over this week:

~ check in with yourself, are they really the results you want? What will you do different if autopilot is running a lot of your waking moments?

As always, if you are ready to bust a belief, feel / look / sound / be different, and are keen to tap into a support team then you know where to find me…………HH

And who else do you know that likes thinking & questioning? Plus being the best that they can be? Well forward this on and invite them into the community 🙂