Sometimes, when opening your e-mail you 

often wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes or want you to look at a  certain web page....

without writing a word. 

Maybe they are busy, and just want to keep in touch. A forwarded joke or web page picked for you to view, may be their way of letting you know that you are remembered, that you are still important, and that you are cared for and loved.

In the midst of the daily grind, you often overlook what is really important . When was the last time you did something nice for someone for no particular reason? Do you sometimes fail to say hello, please, or thank you? 

You may neglect to give a compliment or congratulate someone on a wonderful event 

that has happened in their lives. Little things mean a lot, which brings to mind, 

 

Charles Plumb and his "Parachute".

Perhaps this will explain:

Charles Plumb was a U.S. 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, years later, while Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant. A man from 

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.

As the man pumped Plumb's hand, he 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 now says, "I kept wondering what he might have 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 tells of the many hours the sailor had spent working on 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.

As Plumb lectures on lessons learned from his

experiences, he asks, 

"Who's packing your parachute?"
Everyone has someone who provides
what they need to make it through the day.
Plumb 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.

So my friend, recognize the people who pack your parachute. 

The next time if you are sent a joke, or someone wants you to look at a web page, don't think that you've been sent just another joke or page, but that you've been thought of today and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a smile. 

In return, don't forget to do your part in packing their parachute!

Send a smile.....From A Distance.