Count Your Blessings More And Your Curses Less

Life can be very hard at times, and sometimes we develop the habit of dwelling far too much upon what has befallen us. I must confess I am as guilty of this as the next person. However, this morning, sat in the mid morning sun on my customary perch on the porch, as I vacantly gazed at the field of green shoots of new spring crops on the farm next door, I felt somewhat more optimistic. It has been a hard year for me, as it no doubt has been for a great many others, and yet there has also been so much to be thankful for.

My mind wandered back to a time not too long before this pandemic crisis when life was exceptionally good to me. It was a time when I met my lovely wife, and that has truly been a blessing of enormous proportions. However, not in any way to demean that wonderful meeting, I did meet somebody else who in his own way, helped to make my life feel well and truly blessed.

When I met my wife I was in the midst of recording my third album, 'Lost and Found'. The title really said it all about how I felt at that time. The only problem was I didn't have enough funds to get married AND pay for the finishing of the album. It had to be one or the other. Of course, I chose to pay for the wedding and put the album on hold.

One day strolling through the town centre I happened to see a friend of a friend and we stopped to have a coffee and a social chat. Peter asked how the album was going and I briefly explained how it was on hold until such time as I could find the funds to finish it as I was about to get married.

"How much do you need?" Peter asked.

"Oh not too much, about two thousand pounds.Why?" I said jokingly, do you know a rich man with money to burn on a worthless cause?"

"No I don't Liam, and I am very far from being rich myself. But I have heard you perform and you are far from a worthless cause. I've heard you man, you're really good. Ok, give me your account details and I'll transfer what you need. Tell you what, make it three thousand pounds, just to make sure that you have enough."

I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Here was a man who I hardly knew making a very generous offer to a relative stranger.

"Ok, so let's treat this as a personal loan and tell me when you would like it back." I said.

"Well, if it makes you feel better it's a none refundable loan. If you make a tidy sum out of it, say thirty thousand pounds, and you want to repay it I'll accept it. If you don't, don't worry about it. It's a gift Liam. Everybody needs a helping hand at some time in life and although I am not rich, I can afford it. If you don't mind me saying so, you are very close to retirement and a pension is not going to keep the wolf from the door. With sales of the album you should be able to more than get by."

Within a week the money was in my account and the album was finished. In the end I used every penny of that three thousand pounds. Sadly, so far I haven't been able to repay a single cent of it. Immediately after the album was finished I had copies made and did quite well from selling them at my live performances. Then along came Covid. That brought my live performances to a full stop and sales of the album came to an equally abrupt end.

I did put the album up on an internet site called Bandcamp, but so far sales have not got past double digits. But I really don't want to dwell on that, I just count my blessing that I met Peter and to this day we have been firm friends. His friendship means more to me than any amount of money. Having said that, I would still like to repay his kindness at some point in the future. I live in hope.

In conclusion, much as I have to complain about in terms of the poor quality of people I have had the misfortune to meet, I have a lot more to celebrate in terms of the great folk I have met who have made such an incredible difference to my life that I will be eternally grateful for. And if you dear reader would like a takeaway from this story, it has to be, to be grateful for all the good things you have in your life and count your blessings and not your curses.

Music | william p o’neill — Bandcamphttps://williamponeill.bandcamp.com