erection2015
Alfrescian (InfP) + C
- Joined
- May 20, 2011
- Messages
- 13,972
- Points
- 113
Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat
missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb
ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years
in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures
on lessons learned from that experience!
One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at
another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in
Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"
"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.
"I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and
gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!"
Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't
be here today."
Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I
kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat; a
bib in the back; and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might
have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, how are you?' or anything
because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor."
Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden
table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding
the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of
someone he didn't know.
Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?" Everyone has
someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. He also
points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot
down over enemy territory -- he needed his physical parachute, his mental
parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called
on all these supports before reaching safety.
Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is
really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you,
congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them,
give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason. As you go
through this week, this month, this year, recognize people who pack your
parachutes.
Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without
writing a word. Maybe this could explain it: When you are very busy, but
still want to keep in touch, guess what you do -- you forward jokes. And
to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still important,
you are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get? A
forwarded joke.
So my friend, next time when you get a joke, don't think that you've been
sent just another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of today
and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a
smile, just helping you pack your parachute........
missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb
ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years
in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures
on lessons learned from that experience!
One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at
another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in
Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"
"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.
"I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and
gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!"
Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't
be here today."
Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I
kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat; a
bib in the back; and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might
have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, how are you?' or anything
because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor."
Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden
table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding
the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of
someone he didn't know.
Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?" Everyone has
someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. He also
points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot
down over enemy territory -- he needed his physical parachute, his mental
parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called
on all these supports before reaching safety.
Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is
really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you,
congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them,
give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason. As you go
through this week, this month, this year, recognize people who pack your
parachutes.
Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without
writing a word. Maybe this could explain it: When you are very busy, but
still want to keep in touch, guess what you do -- you forward jokes. And
to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still important,
you are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get? A
forwarded joke.
So my friend, next time when you get a joke, don't think that you've been
sent just another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of today
and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a
smile, just helping you pack your parachute........
