“What did you think of the second issue, by the way?” asked Will this morning. A few weeks earlier, he’d sent me a script for the latest instalment of the comic series he’s been writing. I’d said – entirely truthfully – that I would read it as soon as possible and get back to him with my thoughts. Looking at the date on which the script had last been saved, 12 March, I saw that over a month had passed between it being sent and me coming to read it, within the last couple of hours. It was brilliant, of course, but despite having simply forgotten about it I felt guilt at having taken so long to fulfil even a small promise – one that I had already made when he’d sent it to me once before.

We can never determine the exact paths our lives will take. There will be both high and low points along the way, fluctuations and inconsistencies. That’s why, even though I like to keep continuity to a decent standard by checking what I’ve written beforehand, I still allow for a mistake and a blip here and there. If that wasn’t the case, the blog wouldn’t be truly representative of real life and its constant unpredictability. Despite this, however, some things should be determined, ensured and stuck to. These include the loyalty we give friendships and relationships, and the promises we make to the people we care about. You don’t need me to tell you that to be decent human beings we should all be honest and committed to following everything through, but it can be all too easy to treat the smaller things as less important than the bigger things.

It’s considered perfectly normal to occasionally forget something when it’s convenient to do so, or tell a little lie to get ourselves out of a hole (not that I did either of these things). Small though they may be, they’re still breaches of pledges you’ve made to people you love. I was surprised when Mum once revealed just how many minor fibs I tell her on a regular basis, all with no malice intended but all done without a second thought. It did shock me to an extent, as did the realisation that I’d allowed myself to forget a promise I’d made to a friend yet again. Therefore, I’m using the 50th Third Time Enabled post to vow that I’ll do all I can to honour my future promises as soon as possible. I’ll read anything you send me much more quickly, and if I haven’t gotten round to it yet, you can be sure I’ll be there soon. That’s a little something to make this post a landmark.

Mason