Email Inspiration Received (EIR) today from my good friend David (Stapp), whom I haven’t spoken face-to-face with in probably 8 years, but have recently been forwarding emails to each other. Here’s how this message goes today:

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A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.

He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold.. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out, ‘Excuse me, where are we?’

‘This is Heaven, sir,’ the man answered.. ‘Wow! Would you happen to have some water?’ the man asked.

‘Of course sir, come right in and I’ll have some ice water brought right up.’ The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

‘Can my friend,’ gesturing toward his dog, ‘come in, too?’ the traveler asked. 

‘I’m sorry sir, we don’t accept pets.

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence.

As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

‘Excuse me!’ he called to the man. ‘Do you have any water?’

‘Yeah, sure, there’s a pump over there, come on in.’

‘How about my friend here?’ the traveler gestured to the dog.

‘There should be a bowl by the pump.

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.

The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

‘What do you call this place?’ the traveler asked.

‘This is Heaven,’ he answered.

‘Well, that’s confusing,’ the traveler said.. ‘The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.’

‘Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That’s hell.’

‘Doesn’t it make you mad for them to use your name like that?’

‘No, we’re just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.’

 

Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without writing a word. Maybe this will explain:

When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do? You forward jokes.

When you have nothing to say, but still want to keep contact, you forward jokes.

When you have something to say, but don’t know what, and don’t know how, you forward jokes.

Also 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, next time if 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. You are all welcome @ my water bowl anytime!

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Personal commentary: How many times do we get annoyed by someone emailing a non-business note during a busy time of your day? Is it the joke that is annoying, or the person sending it? It has always baffled me why more of us don’t take a minute to read for the inspiration, motivation, and/or comedic message in an email during times of stress and pressure, and then take another 10 seconds to hit the forward to pass on some of the “relief” to more friends. From a business perspective, any relief (or release) of stress can only add value to productivity (unless that’s all you do all day long…in which case, take me off your list right now).

If we went through life being a little less wound tight, perhaps we could all enjoy each other more and relax some of our blinding disbeliefs, dislikes, and doubts that may be heaped upon co-workers, bosses, clients, and even the person sending the email. I’m trying not to preach here gang…I struggle to find humor, inspiration, and motivation in my everyday professional and personal life just like the rest of us.

This is a neat message; one that I enjoy receiving no matter what time of day it comes. If I annoy you with this forwarding, please pardon me for passing it along – I can take you off my list without any hard feelings.

Y’all stop by sometime for a drink of water, and bring your best friend.