The Briefcase

I used to see this homeless man every day.  He would always be downtown.  He stood out to me because he would always be wearing a suit.  The suit was old and tattered, but I never saw him wearing anything else.

I would also always see this man role playing like he was greeting people.  He would bow or imitate shaking their hands.  I would watch him practicing sitting down over and over and over again.  He would cross his legs and pretend to be engaging in conversations.  He would sometimes even get angry with himself and I could hear him fussing saying, “NO, THAT’S NOT CORRECT!!  SAY IT OVER!!”  There would even be times I would see him study the wealthy businessmen as they exited their shiny skyscrapers and enter their chauffeur-driven limos.  He also never accept money from anyone, but from time to time I would see him bring food to some of the other homeless people. 

Every time I saw him, he was always doing some variation of the above activities and he always had this briefcase.  This went on for almost a year.   One day, curiosity got the best of me and I decided to approach him and asked if he would be willing to talk to me.  Reluctantly he said he would.  We found a bench at a nearby park, sat down and began to talk.  I told him my name and what I did for a living.  I then simply asked him why he went through the same routine every day?  His response to me was amazing.

He said “young man, just a few years ago I was thrust into a successful position at the company I worked for.  I wanted this position so bad.  I prayed for it and prayed for it until I finally got it.  I literally became a millionaire overnight as a result.  I went on lavish shopping sprees, bought fancy cars, and a huge home.  I’m not married, so I had all the women I wanted and we drank and did drugs.  I had the time of my life!  I was now rich so I enjoyed it.  After about a year of being in my new position, I was beginning to become very careless in my duties and made a critical error on an account I was managing and we ultimately lost the client.  As a result, I was fired and got no severance pay.  I was spending the money I was making as fast as I earned it and never saved anything, so I found myself not being able to pay my bills.  First, the women were gone, then the cars and finally the house.  Within a few months, I had gone from living on top of the world to nothing and no one would hire me because of my poor reputation at the last firm.  I was left with nothing and it was all MY fault.”  What he told me next, changed my life forever.  He said “I figured since I had lost everything, this would be a perfect time to start over and learn from my mistakes.  You see, I was rich, but I never had a chance to learn how to become wealthy.  I took my old habits into my new life and as a result, I lost everything.  Now that I am on the streets, I spend every day practicing how to walk with wealth, talk with wealth, sit with wealth and live with wealth.  I have had to completely reprogram my thoughts and change my focus.  I needed to understand that wealth is more than just a dollar amount, it is a mindset.  I promised myself that before I became wealthy again, I would prepare myself mentally to keep it.” 

This left me speechless.  I am literally getting some of the best knowledge I have ever gotten in my life from a homeless gentleman.  I sat there for a few moments in silence, letting it all sink in.  I then asked him about the briefcase.  What he said next was beyond belief.  He told me “as I was leaving my home for the last time, wearing only this suit, I saw my briefcase sitting in the corner of my now empty office, so I grabbed it.  Not having anyplace to go, I walked towards downtown and found a park bench to sit on to rest my feet and figure out my next move.  While I was sitting there I decided to open this briefcase.  Inside I found one million dollars that I had forgotten about putting there.  At that moment, I realized I had a huge choice.  I could take this money and go get a new home or hotel and basically blow it like I did with my last riches or I could honor my promise to myself and learn how to be wealthy before doing anything else.  I chose to learn how to be wealthy.  This is why you see me doing the things that I do on a daily basis.  I am learning how to manage and enjoy my wealth, before ever really spending a dime.  Of course, I eat and feed others, but that is part of the process.  Learning how to walk, talk and carry yourself is one aspect, but learning how to give to others is by far the greatest sign of wealth ever.”

After he said that, he shook my hand and got up and walked away.  A few more weeks passed and I would see him out there and then one day, I never saw him again.   A year goes by and I had all but forgotten about homeless gentleman until one day as I was walking to a restaurant downtown and passed a shelter.  As the door opened I could see a man standing behind the serving table and he looked like the homeless man I talked to a year ago.  I step inside to see and sure enough, it was him.  He was all cleaned up and looking great.  He recognized me as well.  He motioned for me to wait as he served the last person.  Once he was done he walked over to me and we began to talk.  He told me that after the last time we spoke, he practiced being wealthy for a bit longer.  Once he felt confident that his mindset on wealth was changed he began his journey of building his new life.  He started to invest portions of his money in stocks and small real estate.  He also made some donations to charity and serving the people he once shared the streets with.  All that was great, but his greatest achievement was the fact that he now coaches people to prepare them for the lives they want through seminars and mentoring.  He said his life has never been more fulfilled!!

The moral of this story is, pray for the life you desire, but prepare yourself mentally, emotionally, and spiritually long before you get it.  There is nothing worse than finally receiving your blessing, but not being ready when it arrives.