Fifteen Years On

I had fully intended to post this blog a lot earlier than now, but when you have a massive storm system arriving at your door that knocks out power for seven and a half hours, I'd say that's a good enough reason for a delay.  Hoping those who had tornadoes touch down on them made it through relatively unscathed.

Of course, as I look outside my window in my house, I see that the sun is shining brightly, the temperature is right where it should be this time of year, and the day looks like it is going to be absolutely perfect - especially given the wacky weather we had last night.

It just reminds me of how it was fifteen years earlier.  I was only 20 years old then, but it too was a beautiful, gorgeous day filled with great promise, fun, and happiness.

It seems hard to believe that in a flash, that promise would be forever destroyed along with the World Trade Center in New York City.  I can't believe it has been fifteen years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks which saw over three thousand people lose their lives in planned terrorist attacks in New York and Washington D.C. - it seems like only yesterday that we all heard the news that changed the world as we knew it.

The question is...what have we learned in the fifteen years since the 9/11 attacks?

Well, that answer is going to vary from person to person depending on where you were, what you were doing, and how close you were to the attacks when they unfolded.  Not everybody will react the same way, and that's absolutely awesome. 

All I can tell you is what I've learned since then.  And the only thing that I can tell you that I took from that is that life is fragile, and it is temporary, and that we never really know when it is going to be taken away from us.

I just feel that life is too short to be spent wasting it on doing things that are detrimental towards your fellow man, woman, or child.  I think that instead of trying to find ways to bring people down, we should focus on building them up.  I know with some people, that is a challenge in itself, but I believe that it's so important to try and surround ourselves with positivity instead of negativity.

I also feel that life is too short to limit yourself in who you spend time with.  The lunch table of co-dependence might be a great way to socialize for now, but there's going to come a day in which you'll be the only one at the table.  Would you be willing to interact with other people who you aren't familiar with, or allow yourself to open yourself up to people who you might not feel you click with initially?  Who knows?  That person you used to snub could become your new best friend.

Life's also too short to make people feel like they are beneath you.  Honestly, the whole idea of a person being better than another because of looks, brains, talent, and bread winning potential is absolute garbage to me, and anyone who does put so much value in those things isn't really someone that I would open up to.

And life is way too short to take your loved ones for granted.  After all, many people woke up the morning of September 11, 2001 not realizing that this would be the last time that they would ever see their family members or friends ever again.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is this.  Don't let life pass you by.  Make the most of what time you have left.  Spend it with those you love the most, but don't be afraid to let a few new people in as well.