Sometimes Not Getting What You Want Is Good for You

There’s an old Buddhist saying: ‘Sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.’ I hadn’t really understood its full meaning until early on during my time with Bob, when my life took a dramatic turn.

Bob and I had been struggling to make ends meet busking around Covent Garden. I’d regularly run into trouble with the authorities and had a particularly bad relationship with the staff at the Covent Garden tube station, who objected to me and Bob sitting outside. Matters had come to a head when I’d been falsely accused of abusing a ticket inspector. I had been arrested and stuck in a prison cell overnight.

I’d been cleared of the charge eventually, but it had given me a wake-up call. I’d dreamed of using my busking as a launching pad for a musical career. But a night in a cold cell had made me realise – in the short term, at least – I simply wasn’t going to be able to achieve that. I had Bob to care for, as well as myself. I had to make a change.

As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened to me. Instead I started selling The Big Issue , initially in the West End, but then at the Angel in Islington. It was there that my life was transformed. I was spotted by a literary agent and asked to write a book about my life with Bob.

I often think back to that turning point. I had been fortunate in so many ways. First, I’d been able to escape an unjust accusation, but more importantly, I’d been forced to make a change.

Of course, I could never have predicted the precise direction my life was going to take from that point. But there was no doubt that in not getting what I’d wanted, I really had enjoyed the most miraculous good luck.