I turned on my computer today and like any other day I checked my email. I was as ever, happy to see a few emails from friends that had been sent overnight. However my happiness soon faded when I began to read an email from one of my closet and oldest friends. She had forwarded on a dreaded chain mail... one that told me about love, appreciating friendship and not taking things at face value. However that was not all, it also informed me that if I didn't forward it onto at least 15 people including the person I sent it to within 15minutes, that I would get at least 10 years of bad luck in love.
Well what was I to do, I sent it back to the person who sent it to me, but I didn't choose 15 other people to send it to. I thought about it and a couple of years ago I may have attempted to send it on, however I know that most of my friends would have been annoyed if I had sent it on as they hate them, and find them nothing but annoying emails taking up space. This email is not alone, as I am sure you will all agree, I would say in a good year I could recieve anywhere from 50 - 500...each the same template as the other: A cuddly story, including some deep and meaningful moral, or perhaps a tragic story with an even more prominant moral, the story ends and the emails states that you have to forward it on or else. The number of people change, as does the time limit but it's always got the same bad luck or something bad will happen statements.
I don't know what it is about the emails that makes people send them on, maybe the slight fear that if they don't something really might happen. Perhaps it is a belief that what is said is true, however if that's the case why do the words of kindness need to be followed by words of a threat. I don't believe the threats that are contained in these emails, nor do I really mind sending them back to the person who sent them to me, but I will not send them on to others. I will break the chain as I believe that I make my own destiny come to fruition and that some words filling cyberspace can not dictact the love nor anything else in my life.
I don't want to sound like I don't appreciate the thought when someone has forwarded a chain mail on, but only if it is from the right intentions. If I have been sent one of these emails purely for the reason of being one of the names in a list to reach a number needed to avoid bad luck, then I would rather not be included as I will not appreciate it at all. I just want to read emails that mean something to me or to the person who has sent it. If your looking to have good luck, then may I suggest loving those around you, smiling even when things are tough and maybe investing in a rabbits foot...?