GRATITUDE

 Air Commodore Vishal was a Jet Pilot. In a combat mission, his fighter plane was destroyed by a missile. He however, ejected himself and landed safely with the parachute. 

He won acclaims and appreciations from many people.

Five years from this incident, one day he was sitting with his wife in a restaurant. A man from a nearby table came up to him and said, "You are Captain Vishal, you fly jet fighters, don't you? Once your fighter plane was destroyed by a missile, isn't it?"

"How do you know that?" asked Vishal.

I had packed your parachute that day," the man smiled and replied.

Suddenly, Vishal started breathing heavily. He realised if the parachute had not worked at that moment, he would not be here today. He had goosebumps just thinking of this, and his heart was filled with gratitude.

Vishal couldn't sleep that night. He wondered how many times he must've seen that man, but never paid attention to him, never even said - "Good morning, how are you?" In fact, he had never spoken to him, just because he himself was a fighter pilot and that person was just an ordinary safety worker.

So friends, who is packing our parachute?

Everyone has someone in life, who provides what they need to make it through the day. We need all kinds of parachutes to get through life safely - the physical parachute, the mental, emotional, and the spiritual parachutes. 

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss this really important aspect.

We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you to these providers, but we can congratulate them on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason.

Let’s close our eyes and try to recall the name of the person who comes to our house to collect the garbage, the lady who brooms every day outside our house, the security guard of our society, the bus conductor and driver who pick up and drop our kids every day from school. 

Let’s thank everyone who has packed our parachute one way or the other.

                

"Gratitude is a very potent attitude and a great positive emotion. Gratitude is the outcome of a heartfelt practice."