One of the most effective Practical Tools is HUMOR.

A man in a hot air balloon realized he was completely lost. He was overwhelmed, in despair and utter bewilderment. He saw a person on the ground and yelled down to him, “Can you help me? I don’t know where I am.”

The man on the ground replied calmly, “Sure, I’ll help you. You are in a hot air balloon hovering 30 feet above the ground … between 40 and 41 degrees North latitude and between 59 & 60 degrees West longitude.”

“Wow, you must be an SA sponsor,” said the man in the balloon. “I am,” said the man, “but what gave me away?”

“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically right but I am still lost. Frankly you’re not much help at all and you might even have delayed my trip.”

“You must be an SA sponsee,” replied the man. The man in the balloon was amazed and said, “I am, but how did you know?”

The man on the ground said, “Well, you don’t know where you are or where you’re going. You have risen to where you are due to a lot of hot air. You are expecting other people to solve your problems and the fact is that you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but, somehow now IT’S MY FAULT!”

Have a good joke, wry observation, funny SA story? Did you make a funny recovery cartoon? Send your Humor gifts to essay@sa.org