Thank those who packed your Parachute

While talking to one of our Wealth Advisors, he mentioned the tough situation we are in right now. The severity of the second wave of COVID19 makes the first wave look like a walk in the park. Lost lives, lost livelihoods, work from home for the last 15 months, blurring professional and personal boundaries and confinement to small places with lockdowns are causing unimaginable mental strain along with the physical strain. Many times inner beliefs have been shaken to the core. In such times, Advisers become that person with whom clients are sharing their anxiety, fear and frustrations. While Advisers are making their best effort but there are constraints of lockdowns and they themselves being impacted. One thing I can promise you that we all always keep trying to do our best. The current times require both the comforted and the comforting to be taking care of each other

I want to relate a story that I have used in the past and is even more relevant now.

“Air Commodore Vishal was a Jet Pilot. In a combat mission, his fighter plane was destroyed by a missile. He however ejected himself and parachuted safely. He won acclaim and appreciation from many.

After five years one day he was sitting with his wife in a restaurant. A man from another table came to him and said “You’re Captain Vishal! You flew jet fighters. You were shot down!”

“How in the world did you know that?” asked Vishal.

“I packed your parachute,” the man smiled and replied. Vishal gasped in surprise and gratitude and thought if the parachute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.

Vishal couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about that man. He wondered how many times I might have seen him and not even said ‘Good morning, how are you?’ or anything because he was a fighter pilot and that person was just a safety worker”

So, friends, who are packing your parachute? Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. We need many kinds of parachutes when our plane is shot down — we need the physical parachute, the mental parachute, the emotional parachute, the spiritual parachute & the financial parachute. We call 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 the people who pack your parachute.”

There are so many people — Scripters, clients, partners, friends and family — who packed my parachute in the last 15 months one way or the other — through their words, deeds, belief, prayers, encouragement and unyielding support. I want to thank each and every one of them.