Thought for today:
"Today is my 73rd birthday and is also mine and Sheila's third wedding anniversary. Let me tell you that everything looks good from where I am standing. Today is a day that fills me with pleasure just to be able to share with my beautiful wife Sheila, family and friends. So forgive this old man for a few moments if I reach deep down into my sack of treasure and grab my happiness by the horns and hang on tight to that content feeling. Happy anniversary Sheila. Thank you for taking me to your heart and into your life; you embrace everything that is good and wholesome in mine. I love you.
When I was a child, my mother used to tell me,'Billy, they say you can't have your cake and eat it. Well don't believe them. You can have your cake and eat it, if you live every day of your life as if it was your birthday and Christmas day all rolled into one.' Mum was right, especially if one happens to be married to the best baker in the country who has the gift to take a Mary Berry's cake recipe, tweak it and demote it into second place in any cake contest!
Many years ago as a young man when I was on the brink of wanting to change the world, I planted a garden of ideas in my potting shed; my potting shed being where I went to when I wanted a quiet moment. That garden has borne much fruit over the years and now being in my seventies, I am extremely grateful for having been able to nourish my dreams in the stillness of its soil. Today, I am unashamedly able to give myself some credit and I don't feel either immodest or lazy of sitting in the shade of any significant success I have achieved.
Though many of my dreams have come true, I know that I will never become too old to dream a new dream. As I get older I come to understand that age only counts against those who constantly count it and each morning when I look in the mirror I smile because I also know that having wrinkled skin doesn't stop a person being comfortable in it. One's skin is simply like an old coat you will never throw away; it merely adapts itself to your way and circumstances of life and shapes itself comfortable around your prevailing posture.
If there was but one great thing that I could do for the advancement of mankind and know that I wouldn't fail in the attempt, I know what I would like it to be. It would be to convince every man woman and child that the first step towards liking and loving oneself and the world in which you live is 'acceptance'; a greater acceptance of oneself and one's world. Have a lovely day everyone. No doubt you'll be glad to see the back of me until tomorrow! Love Bill x" William Forde: November 10th, 2015.