
"Most of us will go through our lives never truly appreciating how much we have travelled on the backs of others or have been assisted in our journey before reaching our final destination. Our parents, family, teachers, employers, neighbours and friends have each, at some stage of our life, been there to help and support us when our need has been greatest and our awareness has often been wanting.
Some of the help we have received will have been 'up front' and we will, therefore, be aware of having received it. However, there will be far more support and help we have received 'in the background' and benefited from on our path of life that we may never know of. I speak of the good will, thoughts and prayers of others whom the benefactor may never know about.
For example, who helps you the most; the friend who gives or loans you some money when you badly need it, or the friend who hears someone speaking bad of you and defends you in your absence? The mother who chastises you and pulls you over the coals when you do wrong, but cuddles you when you do good, or the mother who believes you can do no wrong and defends your actions to all others whatever you do? Would you prefer a friend who is prepared to tell you the truth even if it hurts you to hear it, or one who pretends, praises and agrees with you, in order to spare your feelings and preserve your good will? Or could it be the stranger who smiles at you when you are depressed and reminds you that there are things in the world to smile about?What about the person who thinks highly of you and prayers for you during serious illness?
The travelling of life's road is never an easy journey and our passage is often made much easier by the good intentions and actions of others that we may never learn of. I recently received a message from a Facebook follower of my morning thoughts in the U.S.A. The lady told me that she has been a regular reader of my 'thought for today' for over four years and said, 'You don't know me, we have never communicated and I am not even 'befriended on your Facebook contacts, but through your words each morning, you have lifted my spirits and given me hope to carry on each day. Since you made your illness known to Facebook, I have greatly admired the way you have coped with it and there has never been a day since I first read your words when I haven't prayed for you. Thank you for your inspiration.'
No signature was attached to the message. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who have carried me through these past five years of my cancer treatment with your kind thoughts, support and most importantly, your prayers. Since 2013, I have been diagnosed with three different types of cancer and have received treatment for each. This most recent cancer I contracted and the chemotherapy treatment has been difficult to cope with, but whenever I feel a great deal of pain, I just think about all of your prayers and kind comments and this spiritual support keeps me going another day. A special thanks will always be reserved for my dear wife Sheila whose back has been the broadest support of all. I love you all and your daily concern humbles me. Bill x" William Forde: May 5th, 2017