September 11 is stamped in our memory
Events like 9/11 are a huge wake-up call.
Remembering presents us with a critical choice: We can choose to be victims and fall into patterns of blame, resentment and helplessness. Or we can rise to the challenge, learn from our experiences and change our ways for a better future.
The horror of violent attacks leaves us all devastated. And yes, the attack on the Twin Towers has spawned fear and hatred in some—and so the cycle of revenge and prejudice continues.
But there have been other, more positive consequences as well.
As our horror of war and violence increases, so does our motivation to find solutions. Ensuing discussions are causing our leaders and many of us at ground roots to question our values—what’s right, what’s wrong, what the causes were and what we can do differently.
We were so moved by the stories of the last-minute phone calls people made to their families before they died, we’ve realised the importance of telling loved ones daily that we love them. We’ve learnt to show our appreciation for one another more.
I have a friend who travels to New York on business regularly. He told me that before the attack, there was a hard, cold edge to the atmosphere in the city. There was plenty of hustle and bustle, he said, but no warmth. Faces were tense and determined, but rarely smiled. He told me that since the attack, people make eye contact, they smile at one other in the streets and they go to the trouble of getting to know one another more.
There have been an increasing number of calls over the internet for people all over the world to join together to focus on peace at specified times. It has been found that these joint efforts do make a difference to levels of crime and violence. Aside from that, as more and more people join in the movement all over the world, it creates a critical mass that finally shifts our approach.
A well-documented study was conducted in Los Angeles, which has a high crime rate, with volunteers who were brought in specifically to focus their mental energies on peace over a 24-hour period. It was found that the crime rate was lowered by 25% immediately after those focus sessions.
Instead of leaving it all to politicians, we individuals can look for ways we can contribute to the peace effort. We can pressure our leaders to make the necessary changes in their policies.
After September 11, we are all the more conscious of the importance of spreading tolerance and of acting with justice.
Here in Australia, communities and informal gatherings of neighbours are making more effort to celebrate cultural differences and create more understanding. Children are being taught differently in schools.
My seminars and presentations over the decades have given me access to thousands of people in all walks of life. I’ve had the privilege to watch, first hand, the shifts in attitudes. We’re waking up to what responsibility really means—that we are individually and collectively responsible for creating the reality we desire, by our thoughts, our beliefs and our actions. It is still possible to change the path we’re on, but we can’t just sit back and let things take their natural course.
It’s up to each one of us whether we allow tragedies to serve no purpose, or whether they will motivate us to make improvements in the way we live our lives, in the values we teach our children, and the way we generate warmth and integrity around us.
Each of us needs to know the way, go the way, and show the way.
Reflection: Are you dispersing compassion, tolerance and peace and joy wherever you go? Or are you spitting out the pollution of more hatred and resentment?
I’d love to know what you think of what I’ve said here.
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