Monday - September 11, 2006

The Lesson Of 9/11

If you’re reading this as you get ready to leave work today or have just arrived back home after another tired, boring day at your job, have you thought about today and what it represents? Yes, today is September 11, the fifth anniversary of the 21st century’s “day of infamy”. But have you really sat down and pondered what it all means and what lessons we need to take away from this memorial anniversary?

There are, of course, the obvious lessons - that radical muslims want to kill us and we better stop them before they strike again and yes, we probably need to do more to promote democracy and a better standard of living in the Muslim world to help them become more open and friendly to the rest of the world. Or we just need to nuke the whole bunch and be done with it as some advocate.

But there is one lesson of supreme importance that we all need to learn. As you woke up this morning, showered, had breakfast and hustled the kids off to school and began the daily commute into work did you ever stop to consider at any point in your life the following question .... is it better to take a swan dive or just do a cannonball out of a window on the 82nd floor of a skyscrpaper when the building is on fire around you and collapsing into rubble while you scream?

Have you never considered that question? Ever? Me neither. The fact is that none of us even want to contemplate such a scenario so we blithely go about our business pretending nothing bad will ever happen to us if we just keep our heads down and stay out of trouble. That is the ultimate bad assumption on the part of all of us. You, me, them. All of us.

The fact is that bad things happen every day to good people and bad people alike. In a nutshell ... shit happens. You can’t continue to delude yourself into believing that it can never happen to you so what can you do? Simple. Live every day like it’s your last day on Earth. Take as much joy and pleasure in life as you are capable of handling. Tell those you love how much you love them.

You won’t have time to do that as you pass the 64th floor on your way down to the street below. The hard concrete at ground level will silence any chance you may have had to make things right in your life. As you pass the 38th floor on your final flight, you may even wish you had talked to your children more and tried to give them a better example. Passing the 18th floor, you might be thinking of the weekends you could have been working with a local Boy Scout troop or helping out at a homeless shelter instead of reclining on the couch and letting time pass. As the ground comes up to meet you in that final instant you may even have one final instant of clarity and insight into the meaning of life as eternity reaches out to take you into its grasp.

The most dreadfully painful words in the entire English language are ... “what might have been”. Think about that today and you may have learned the only lesson of 9/11 that really matters.

Posted by The Skipper     on 09/11/2006 at 05:48 PM   
Filed Under: • Philosophy •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner