On the anniversary of 9/11 this week, I didn’t post anything about it on my blog. Here’s why I didn’t and why I now wish I had..
Last week my marketing guru Leslie asked me if I thought it was a bad idea to start my Career Seekers Teleclass on 9/11. I told her no. This had crossed my mind but I’d decided to take the path people talk about: I’m not changing what I do because of what happened on 9/11. I’ll keep flying and won’t live in fear. I felt solid in that decision although a voice in the back of my head did doubt a little bit.
Then I read the Brazen Careerist’s post about 9/11. I recommend it, it’s deeply personal and moving. She was there. And I realized something after reading it (thank you Penelope.) That I could honor those who died in the attacks and still go on living my life without making changes out of fear.
This reminded me of a concept the Coaches Training Institute uses called the "power of and". How 2 things that seem dichotomous on the surface can actually be together or live together at the same time. For example, I can love my husband and at the same time some days not like him very much because he’s driving me crazy. I can dislike him but still love him at the same time. (He knows this because we are open about it.) This is a more trivial example but you know what I mean.
So I realized this week that I could have honored the anniversary of 9/11 and still gone on living my life. I could have blogged about it, or changed the date of my class to acknowledge it. Either way, the point is it is not an either/or situation. I could have done both. A few days late I am realizing this, learning from it, and am that much more grateful for every day life as a result of acknowledging 9/11.
