All should have a place to call home!
Date Published: 12/08/2016
I am rushing around town, just got my hair cut, which is always hilarious as I tend to wait far too long to get it done... during which I end up, as seems to happen when I go to random places, doing some coaching on bringing peace to people in their lives - or trying at least.
Leaving the shop, there's a dude, wrapped in a sleeping bag, bag to his side, hood up in the rain, sat leaning against a lamp post. Our eyes meet, and I am in a rush - lots to do, life, you know?
But something twigged, stopped me in my tracks - this urge inside "go fetch him a coffee and something hot to eat". This was a strong urge, the voice in my head combined - quick think, and off to the local "Greggs" (only place really) I go. I have a new found confidence at the moment, calm confidence. I made the suggestion to the shop that they have a "pay it forward" jar for people to donate coffees/food to the local homeless... of course, conversations about management happen etc - head office calls will take place, you all know the drill - but the staff were nice, they agreed.
So I loaded the coffee up with sugar, and a hot(ish) sausage roll and made my way back - for once, no doubt, no anxiety (how lovely!), I sat down next to the guy for a chat and to just give him the stuff. The appreciation was humbling and upsetting. We talked of what he needed to get to a shelter, I popped into the shop, came back sorted his bus fare out and chatted a bit more.
As I left I thought, I have to try and ignite something, a spark, hopefully that could be the spur of something that began this dude's road to recovery.
I placed my hand on his shoulder, looked him straight in the eye and said (words to the effect of).
"Take this as a sign, that someone cares, that there maybe some hope, that there is a life there for you to have!"
I wished him a happy future, he just looked at me dumbfounded (positively), and said "thank you so much man".
15 minutes or so, a few coins, and taking a moment to be present with someone. That's all it took.
During our chat I'd found out, a couple of nights previous he'd spent his time sleeping in a church doorway, and some people had walked past him and just thrown cold water over him. Middle of winter. Diabolical. I've also fund-raised for another homeless guy, and a friend of mine let another homeless guy stay with her for a bit and got him back on their feet.
The stories are horrendous, supermarkets pouring chemicals on the food to stop homeless people skip diving to get it, others committing crimes to get a warm night in cells. The indignity, suffering, and hell these people face is absolutely beyond what most of us realise. One of the biggest things relayed to me, was that people walking past without even making eye contact, purposefully avoiding this inconvenience to their day (feeling not great seeing it, not knowing what to do, being so busy you don't notice, they're most common I believe) - this resulted in them beginning to not even feel human! That's not my interpretation, that is their words.
People, experiencing problems, made worse by political ideologies and an insular looking society, not even feeling human anymore...
It is my wish therefore, on this wonderful wishwall, that we ALL take collective responsibility to not allow homelessness & poverty to become normalised in the 21st Century. There is NO excuse for it, no political or social excuses. No ideology. No wedded to specifics of "making it". Those ideologies are simply outward projections of ego mind. When people are homeless and starving, they're failing.
Spectacularly.
So, (and apply common sense obviously), next time you pass a homeless person on the street, drop them a coffee, or a hot snack. It doesn't have to be a posh latte etc! Speak to your local cafe/restaurants about having a pay it forward jar to donate for hot drinks/food to homeless people, or even just make eye contact and say hello - heck, if you're spiritual (as I am), let whatever guides you point out the person you could be a channel of good toward safely.
"Be the change you want to see in the world" - Isn't apparently actually a Gandhi quote, it was in fact this (if I have my research right!):
“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.â€
Deep, huh?
So what difference would making these deeds create within yourself, and also then outwardly again? It's potentially profound if we all partake.
So, you don't need to be a Guru or some wild-eyed-billionaire-island-owning-entrepreneur-philanthropist. Small things, done often by many, can make a huge, huge difference.
Imagine, for a moment, if we all put down our ideological weaponry of false ego mind, and all just did that?
A more peaceful world would be instantaneous, and we would all, rightly, reap wonderful reward from that.
And to all you incredible people, already doing this? Never give up! For it's your hearts and minds that truly keep our world spinning.
To your best life, always.
Richie - The Wizard of Om.
@LiveYourNOw
Leaving the shop, there's a dude, wrapped in a sleeping bag, bag to his side, hood up in the rain, sat leaning against a lamp post. Our eyes meet, and I am in a rush - lots to do, life, you know?
But something twigged, stopped me in my tracks - this urge inside "go fetch him a coffee and something hot to eat". This was a strong urge, the voice in my head combined - quick think, and off to the local "Greggs" (only place really) I go. I have a new found confidence at the moment, calm confidence. I made the suggestion to the shop that they have a "pay it forward" jar for people to donate coffees/food to the local homeless... of course, conversations about management happen etc - head office calls will take place, you all know the drill - but the staff were nice, they agreed.
So I loaded the coffee up with sugar, and a hot(ish) sausage roll and made my way back - for once, no doubt, no anxiety (how lovely!), I sat down next to the guy for a chat and to just give him the stuff. The appreciation was humbling and upsetting. We talked of what he needed to get to a shelter, I popped into the shop, came back sorted his bus fare out and chatted a bit more.
As I left I thought, I have to try and ignite something, a spark, hopefully that could be the spur of something that began this dude's road to recovery.
I placed my hand on his shoulder, looked him straight in the eye and said (words to the effect of).
"Take this as a sign, that someone cares, that there maybe some hope, that there is a life there for you to have!"
I wished him a happy future, he just looked at me dumbfounded (positively), and said "thank you so much man".
15 minutes or so, a few coins, and taking a moment to be present with someone. That's all it took.
During our chat I'd found out, a couple of nights previous he'd spent his time sleeping in a church doorway, and some people had walked past him and just thrown cold water over him. Middle of winter. Diabolical. I've also fund-raised for another homeless guy, and a friend of mine let another homeless guy stay with her for a bit and got him back on their feet.
The stories are horrendous, supermarkets pouring chemicals on the food to stop homeless people skip diving to get it, others committing crimes to get a warm night in cells. The indignity, suffering, and hell these people face is absolutely beyond what most of us realise. One of the biggest things relayed to me, was that people walking past without even making eye contact, purposefully avoiding this inconvenience to their day (feeling not great seeing it, not knowing what to do, being so busy you don't notice, they're most common I believe) - this resulted in them beginning to not even feel human! That's not my interpretation, that is their words.
People, experiencing problems, made worse by political ideologies and an insular looking society, not even feeling human anymore...
It is my wish therefore, on this wonderful wishwall, that we ALL take collective responsibility to not allow homelessness & poverty to become normalised in the 21st Century. There is NO excuse for it, no political or social excuses. No ideology. No wedded to specifics of "making it". Those ideologies are simply outward projections of ego mind. When people are homeless and starving, they're failing.
Spectacularly.
So, (and apply common sense obviously), next time you pass a homeless person on the street, drop them a coffee, or a hot snack. It doesn't have to be a posh latte etc! Speak to your local cafe/restaurants about having a pay it forward jar to donate for hot drinks/food to homeless people, or even just make eye contact and say hello - heck, if you're spiritual (as I am), let whatever guides you point out the person you could be a channel of good toward safely.
"Be the change you want to see in the world" - Isn't apparently actually a Gandhi quote, it was in fact this (if I have my research right!):
“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.â€
Deep, huh?
So what difference would making these deeds create within yourself, and also then outwardly again? It's potentially profound if we all partake.
So, you don't need to be a Guru or some wild-eyed-billionaire-island-owning-entrepreneur-philanthropist. Small things, done often by many, can make a huge, huge difference.
Imagine, for a moment, if we all put down our ideological weaponry of false ego mind, and all just did that?
A more peaceful world would be instantaneous, and we would all, rightly, reap wonderful reward from that.
And to all you incredible people, already doing this? Never give up! For it's your hearts and minds that truly keep our world spinning.
To your best life, always.
Richie - The Wizard of Om.
@LiveYourNOw
