I thought I would share this story since all of you pack one or more of Sanjay’s and my parachutes. Also thought it was a good way to close out J2’s 2015—with 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 parachuted safely. He won acclaims and appreciations 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 he 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 is 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, and the spiritual 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.
Sanjay and I would like to thank everyone who packed our parachutes this year one way or the other—through your words, actions, and support!
Also, thank you in advance for picking up the slack the first week of 2016 while I am away and Sanjay is home most likely not getting any sleep!
Happy New Year!!!
—Vijay
I frequently attend conferences and retreats on entrepreneurship and leadership and while I am away, the J2 team picks up the slack, allowing me to learn to be better at what I do. I wanted to share what I was learning with my team, so I created the weekly FFfT emails in November of 2015 and have been writing them ever since.
Before long, the J2 staff began sharing the FFfT emails with their friends and family and now other leaders have asked to be included, which led to the creation of this newsletter. I hope you enjoy!