Maybe it’s all the caffeine. Or the cold.

There’s a distinct pedestrian pace in Melbourne’s Central Business District… and it’s not slow.

Australia’s second-largest city is reknowned for its coffee (take note – it’s a revered art form), its volatile weather, the shopping and the fashion. Not necessarily in that order.

However after a recent visit with my partner, I shall now be adding Olympic-quality race walkers to that list.

People are quite simply in a rush. To get somewhere. Everywhere. At once.

Behind us. Beside us. Ahead of us. The sense of urgency was palpable. All business day long. And forget about stopping to open a map. One must simply pull over into the nearest shop doorway, all the while hoping nobody is about to exit or enter.

In a world that’s faster in every sense, it is certainly understandable that its inhabitants have been challenged to ‘pick up the pace’ within its most populated communities. I’m not unfamiliar with big cities. I live in one of the world’s fastest growing ones.  But I do believe we’re losing something in the rush to get somewhere.

Images of stampeding buffalo come to mind when I think of how the situation could develop. Survival of the fittest and all that. In stampedes, there’s no time to mind the weak. What will become of the elderly, the disabled and the very young? Will they simply not be welcome to even venture into the borders of our big cities? And that’s only the beginning.

If we don’t see what is around us in the dash to get to the finish line, we are in fact endangering our own safety and sacrificing a sense of presence and purpose in the world.

Challenge yourself to be more aware of your surroundings – more mindful of your place in the picture – and you’ll see there’s so much more to the race.