Pay it forward

In today’s world so many of us are too busy being busy, to actually stop and consider how many times we have been at the receiving end of someone’s goodwill and benevolence.

Well, I, for one, would like to send out a BIG thank you to three people who I will not name, but who have shown me patience, empathy and most importantly, kindness.

A few weeks ago I found myself in a technological nightmare of horrendous proportions. It was something I could not have envisioned and had no way of forestalling. Totally unprepared, I threw myself at the mercy of what I later found out to be computer bots. Receiving standard format answer after standard format answer, I was at my wits’ end, totally frazzled, close to tears, when I approached a friend for help. She, in turn, reached out to a family member who had never met or spoken to me. But, at her behest, he started working upon my problem. Not only did he sort it out, he ensured that everything was up and running my end and that I was completely satisfied with the result.

He didn’t need to do any of it. He didn’t know me, nor did he owe me anything. Yet, he went out of his way to solve my issue. In return, all I could give him was a ‘thank you’. He didn’t want anything more. Kindness.

Meanwhile, my daughter has been suffering from crippling back pain. We have been trying to ascertain the cause for the last seven months, as the pain comes and goes. But while it’s there, it is completely debilitating. She has been given Vitamin D supplements and tonnes of painkillers, really strong ones too, but nobody has been able to get to the bottom of the issue. She has taken so much time off from school that it is becoming a concern. It is her GCSE year, after all.

We have been running from pillar to post, trying to get her an appointment with a rheumatologist or an orthopeadic consultant. With her laid up once again, and us desperate and looking for answers, we had one of our GP’s contact us and reassure us that we would get the appointment we required. Not only was she as good as her word, she wanted to be kept in the loop as she could understand our worry, having a daughter the same age as ours. Empathy.

Alongside, I’ve just started working with an editor on my latest book. Our contract was up until the 10th of September. All the monies have been paid, the work mostly done from her end. It is I who is lagging behind. Caught up in work, travel, family commitments, illnesses, I have not been able to keep my end of the bargain. Yet, she has been incredibly sweet and agreed to extend the deadline several times over. Patience.

All of these are such underrated virtues, but my goodness, what would the world be without them? I am so incredibly fortunate to be the recipient of all of this understanding and graciousness, and feel very humbled by it. There is little I can do for all of these people I’ve mentioned, except say thank you. But what I can do, in my own small way, is to pay it forward. To be kind, patient and empathetic towards another fellow human, maybe someone I don’t know too well, but someone who is in need, as I have been. To do something: reach out, provide a helping hand, unselfishly and without expecting anything in return.

Pay it forward. Isn’t that what humanity is about?