It doesn’t take long before life starts demanding from us. even as babies, we are always striving for the next thing and expectations are placed on us. it’s not long before we are carrying heavy burdens on our shoulders. responsibilities, failures, pressures, expectations, goals and desires, family, sorrows and on and on. our cross is only ours to carry. no one can carry another’s burdens. there is nothing worse than the loneliness of carrying your load on your own. nothing so soul-destroying as that feeling that you are abandoned with your lot. often, it’s not the load that becomes unbearable, but the loneliness, the quiet that comes with knowing that it is yours alone to carry. then from the side you hear a soft hum. you look up, unsure and you listen a little more intently and yes, now you can hear it … ‘you can do it’ ‘keep going’ ‘I believe in you’ and then a small clap, a small cheer and as if the sounds are lighting up like small suns in the dark, you are discovering that you are not alone. everyone around you is carrying their burdens. inspired, you see another traveller weighed down. nothing you can do to relieve their load, you call out ‘just another step, you can do it’ and as you watch their next step, you cheer, and smile and they are strengthened as you are. as you encourage, as you give courage to others, you too receive and the burden we all carry becomes just that little more bearable. take time to en courage others. your encouragements might be all that is needed to get them over the line to a better place …