Be Thankful....

BE THANKFUL...

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire.
  If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don't know something,
  for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
  During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations,
  because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge,
  because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes.
  They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you're tired and weary,
  because it means you've made a difference.

It's easy to be thankful for the good things. A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings.

true story---who's packing your parachute...

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 some thing nice for no reason. As you go through this week, this

month, this year, recognize people who pack your parachutes.



I am sending you this as my way of thanking you for your part in packing my

parachute. And I hope you will send it on to those who have helped pack

yours!



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.....