15 years? How is this possible? It’s a blink of an eye and a lifetime ago all in the same moment.
14 years… of reading names and ringing the bells and moments of silence.
What is left to be said? Or learned? Plenty.
It is tempting to say “I know this” or “I have heard it all before” or to say “nothing has changed since” and numb it out.
However, the events of 9-11 created a “Timeless Truth Story” which, if we can stay present with, will deliver truths you heart needs to hear in any given moment.
The “Truth” that emerged for me this year was echoed by the words of one of this morning’s readers. He was a young man who, upon reading his own uncle’s name, said that the biggest tragedy for him was that his uncle was taken before he got to live out the rest of his story.
What I want to grab onto today, hold and carry forward is a renewed sense of URGENCY in my life. Urgency that may require me to be more VULNERABLE.
How much of our time and energy do we spend sleep walking? What is wasted by dwelling in the past, worrying about the future, being in broken relationships with ourselves or others, playing small, hating our bodies, or by feeling less than?
The most natural place for us to be is in our “flow” and yet we constantly get caught in ways that disconnect us from our own source of love and light. We sometimes run from it almost as if we feel we don’t deserve it.
I recently watched a new documentary about 9-11 that focused on the phone messages that were left by victims from the Twin Towers in NYC as things unfolded. I have seen and heard bits and pieces of this footage and the recordings over the years but through the lens of this program, I saw something new.
I finally “got” that people in the towers mostly never saw what we saw. We were on the outside looking in. They were on the inside but may have had no idea what was going on in other parts of the buildings. They could not look out and see the big picture we saw on TV. Depending on where one was located, each person was having a totally different experience. That there was a plane, that there were two planes or other attacks, where the planes hit, that there might be no escape or rescue for some and that eventually the towers would completely collapse was not immediately knowable. What action to take was not evident.
Their messages made this clear– we are fine, we are being told to just go back to work, we are going up to the roof to await rescue, we are going down the stairs….. As the facts unfolded and their options narrowed…their phone messages shifted from I will see you later to I love you… I love you… I love you.
In the end, there is only this: I love you. For all of us.
These brave souls did not realize the level of their vulnerability. They had every reason to believe on their way to work that they would return home soon to the arms of their families… not into the arms of the angels on that fateful day.
Can we just hit the pause button long enough today to use this as a touch stone for our most precious lives?
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I can still close my eyes and feel myself there on the 68th floor of the North Tower where I worked many years ago. How glorious the view. The slight sway of the building. The hum of all the chatter and machines, the whoosh and breeze coming up the elevator shaft… everyone easing into each day of work… the feeling of business as usual.
There really is no more “business as usual” or “life as usual” IF we let our peace of mind be taken from us and fear take over.
While we cannot control the world at large, we can choose how we live and the level of vulnerability it takes to keep challenging ourselves to put first things first.
While we cannot control the world at large, we can choose how we live and the level of vulnerability it takes to keep challenging ourselves to put first things first.
Hence, the sense of URGENCY to let go of what no longer serves you. To release that which makes you feel small. To finally unconditionally love yourself and others. To get over whatever way you are holding back, to forgive where needed and embrace the preciousness that is your life… To follow your heart, your calling and experience what is most important to YOU.
Does this take courage? Yes. Does it leave you vulnerable? Perhaps. Do you have a choice? Yes, but really No if you have chosen to use your human experience as a way to keep growing-evolving.
Vulnerability comes with this chosen path for sure. To live your life as fully as you can is an act of bravery, but it is the only way to be able to fully live out the “rest of the story” of your life.
Love and compassion for your vulnerable human self is the only way to stay brave, awake and be here now! The present moment is the ONLY place you get to choose to let go of the residue of the past and the worry about future outcomes.
All this begins with one tiny step of self compassion…to forgive yourself for a past choice, or a bad habit, to stop talking badly about yourself, to pick up the phone and say I am sorry or I miss you. Perhaps this is where the fiercest courage is born.
It is in this way we find the freedom we so richly crave and deserve. Each act of our own courage, despite our vulnerabilities, is woven inextricably into the tapestry of humanity. It is here where each of the souls who perished on 9-11 are carried forward by all of us and their stories can continue and their brave spirits shall live on to inspire us always to focus on what matters most.
Blessings today and Always!
Go Quantum with Your Life!
Marilena
