I saw a homeless man today.

The same one I have seen every day for the last month.

Sat in the same place when I go to work in the morning and when I return on my way home in the evening.

He sits there with a detached look on his face, too apathetic it seems to even register where he is or those around him. He just sits and stares into space.

Whenever I give him money it barely registers for him and the next day its as though he’s never seen me before.

Yesterday when I saw him, he had in his hands the financial spoils of the day and it appeared that he had done well for himself.

But when I saw him sat in his usual spot today, I thought to myself how hopeless and pointless it was to help him.

In that moment I thought he would never do anything with the money he gets that could possibly change his current position or escape his homeless environment.

And then I realised it wasn’t the man sitting down on the pavement that I was talking about, it was me.

He was, as is often the case, just a projection of my thoughts. A way if you like, to listen to my inner beliefs about me. (This is not the first time the homeless have brought me a message about myself – read my post ‘Am I my thoughts?’)

I can never have an understanding of what it is like for this homeless man and certainly have no right to judge him.

And despite the fact that I do judge, as we all do, I also accept that these judgements have more to tell me about myself than they do about anyone else.

Like an alarm clock, those, like my homeless messenger, allow us for a brief moment to wake up, often bolt upright, from a deep sleep into our current realities.

These maybe short lived moments before we walk into the ‘factory doors’ and close down our minds to adopt the ‘business as usual survival mindset’, but its in these brief moments that we get to ask ourselves some poignant questions.

As I sat there shortly afterwards, reflecting on what I had just experienced and writing what would be the notes for this post, I was invited to ask myself ‘what am I actually cultivating in my life by doing what I’m doing right now? What am I investing in for my future that will change my current position down the line?

And I invite you to do the same.

In the areas you would like to change in your life, what are you currently doing each day to make that a reality? What are you cultivating?