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, 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 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 thought of the many hours the sailor had spent 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.
Now, Plumb asks his audience, 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.
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.
The Industrialist and the Fisherman
A simple reminder to keep things in perspective
A rich industrialist was horrified to find a fisherman lying comfortably beside his boat soaking in the warm afternoon sun.
“Why aren’t you out fishing?” asked the industrialist.
“I’ve caught enough fish for the day,” said the fisherman.
”Why don’t you catch some more?” questioned the rich man.
”What would I do with them?” asked the fisherman.
”You could earn more money,” said the intruder. “Then you could buy a new motor for your boat and go into deeper waters to catch more fish. Then you could buy nylon nets and catch more fish and make more money. Then you could buy another boat and make more money, and then get a fleet of boats to make even more money. Then you would be a rich man like me!”
“What would I do then?” The fisherman asked.
”Then you could really enjoy life!” The industrialist answered.
”What do you think I’m doing right now?” replied the contented worker.
