Just received this and was moved so decided to share with you all

Bags I though I had been acerbic enough in the past, I must try harder.

Oops.

I don't know you that well to be able to judge from print, mice. But I'm glad you were jesting.

elegran,

Bags. I DID jest!

MiceElf Kittylester has a nice one on a new thread "Do you have a psychic budgie?" but I hesitate to congratulate her in case it is a serious question.

It's the fact of the 'Aaah!' attraction that makes them so yuck to me.

The actions may be lovely but talking about them and entreating others to do them (the silent implication being that one does them oneself – boast, boast) is not.

Preachy.

Most of the people I know do this sort of thing without being told to do them.

Lovely! Near enough to the truth to attract lots of Ahhhh How True but with the hidden message clear enough!

What about this:

Share a smile - it costs nothing

Phone a friend - it doesn't cost much

Sing a song - it will lift your heart

Contemplate a flower - it will calm your spirit

Knock on a lonely neighbour's door - they can only say 'no'

Write a letter to a loved one, after all a stamp won't break the bank

And then, you know, you'll feel you have done some good in the world today.
Pass this on, spread the love.

We could compose one and start it on its travels and see how long it is before it comes round again. I am sure most of them are just that - experiments in using social media. Think of a plausible lie to make into a rumour - "Bottled spring water found to contain dangerous amounts of the chemical hydrogen hydroxide, close contact with which has caused many suffocation fatalities" - and see how many people will forward it.

I've had to 'hide' a couple of people on Facebook otherwise my news feed would be chock a block with so called inspirational photos and 'forward this if you are brave/caring/enlightened enough' drivel.

I never did understand the chain letter thing either, every single one I ever received ended with me.

The one in the OP isn't even inspirational. (Yes, I know you were probably being polite using that word, elegran).

Just re-read the OP and have concluded it is psychobabbling bullshit anyway. I daresay those things are true on occasion but they are hardly universal truths.

I have a friend - a dear friend - who keeps sending me those inspirational pass-it-on emails, ever since I showed her how to forward messages (wish I hadn't). I am afraid I do not pass them on, they shrivel and die in my deleted file. If it asks me to send it back, I just don't, and I am very very selective about what else I forward and who to.

If you read the header to the a message that has been forwarded to you, you can see the email addresses of every recipient it has been through to reach you, and all the other people that they have forwarded it to - sometimes hundreds of contact addresses for complete strangers.

Mine would be added to the list if whoever I sent it to continued the chain. I don't want that.

(I did attempt to show my friend how to delete the list of everyone the message had been through, but was not successful)

And the blackmail effect is quite clear from your feeling you have to reply to it because otherwise the person will feel upset or hurt. That's called emotional blackmail.

You have often objected to the way something has been expressed on GN, moved. That's all people are doing here.

I do understand.

I don't like the way what I understand perfectly well has been expressed.

Simple distinction.

The reason I don't like the manner of the expression is because it has a holier than thou, chain-mail blackmailing feel to it.

Some of it is rubbish as well – such as the three hardest things to say example. Assumptions about others, much?

I just logged on to some very kind messages from Gns so had to take a quick look at this thread to see what they were talking about before I rush out again.

A couple of comments:

Totally agree about chain mails, I always ignore that bit but do send back to others when requested so they don't get hurt feelings.

There is an excellent book by a well known psychiatrist entitled "Depression the Curse of the Strong" which explains that comment if any of you would like to read it. His name is Dr Tim Cantopher.

Perhaps it is difficult to understand the sentiments in the message unless you have suffered in the way the person who sent it to me has. It certainly moved me because I have suffered and know what she is going through. Clearly all those who have messaged me must have such experience too. I can see that it would be difficult to understand if you don't have that experience.

I have been accused of virtually everything apart from the genocide of native Americans by people who profess to be very kind and compassionate. I find it quite amusing.

That's a handy link, anno

And if you don't believe what feetlebaum says about the danger of chain emails here is one of many on-line warnings.

I have broken so many chains in the last thirty years... and I'm still here to write about it!

Anything that asks you to 'send this to all your friends' is suspect... always to be found in scam emails... if nothing else, such mass forwarding merely wastes bandwidth and clogs up the system.

But I do understand really, elegran (as you know).

I have a plastic chicken that's really nice. Made out of recycled plastic bags.

Purple ones.

Yes, if it was a good one!