Tag Archives: hope

Change

The only thing constant is change

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changeI’ve heard it said that the only thing that’s constant is change. All you have to do is look around you, and you’ll know that’s true. There’s constant construction going on. New buildings are being built, and old buildings are being torn down. Try to drive anywhere of much distance, and you’ll run into road construction. Look at old pictures, and see how much you’ve aged, even if you swear you haven’t changed a bit.

Right now, all around me is change. Not only with me personally, but with many friends and family. There’s an odd feeling of excitement mixed with unrest. As some are finding great things, others are finding a lot of loss.

The only thing constant is change.

On September 11, 2001, this country faced some of its biggest change in its history. Innocence was lost that day. Lives were lost. Hopes were lost. Dreams were lost. All around the country people stared at their TVs in disbelief. We all grieved, and we drew together. Suddenly that person we looked at in fear was someone that we reached out a hand to help. We became more of a unified country than we had been in many, many years.

In the years since that fateful day, more changes occurred. Not only in airports, but on the street. We look at others with a weary eye that we didn’t before. The unrest in the world has gotten worse, and I often feel a touch of fear for the future. Who knows what our next generation will face!

The only thing constant is change.

However it is with faith that I’ve gotten through as much change as I have over the years. It’s with a heart full of hope, and a belief that it will all work out in the end that I continue to be an optimist.

Change can leave you tired. You can leave your bones wary and you wondering just how you’re going to go on. Change can also fill you with excitement. It can find you looking to the future with hope and belief that it’s all just going to get better.

I know the latter is often hard to see these days. Some would probably say September 11, 2001 is the day that that belief and hope became hard to find. An evil in the world showed itself, and it continues to show itself today. The players may have changed some, but its goal remains the same: to leave us fearful, weak, and hopeless.

But it’s on this day, that I remember those lives lost. I remember those who are left behind grieving the loss of so many innocent lives. I think of the innocent lives continuing to be lost today, in this war that never seems to truly end. And I hope that we find a way to come together still and help one another… reach out a hand to someone in need.

Because it’s in helping one another that the greatest change can occur. The only thing constant is change, and in some cases that can be the most comforting fact in the world.

general-post, memories

This day snuck up on me

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This last weekend, local firefighters climbed 112 stories to remember and honor the first responders lost in the Sept. 11 attack. This happens every year, and I absolutely love that they do it!

But I was confused when I heard about it. Sept. 11th was still a long ways away.

Right?

I’m really glad I was by myself as my mind started doing the math and realized that its September, and actually 9/11 would only be in a few more days. I’m pretty sure there was a visible light-bulb moment all over my face.

Ever since its happened (9/11, not the light bulb moment), I’ve looked on this day as momentous. Last year, I recounted where I was when I found out about the tragedy. This year… this year I’m more aware of how much time has passed since 9/11/01.

When I card someone at the bar, they have to have a birth date of that particular day, 1991, or before. 1991. The people just becoming old enough to drink legally were 10 years old when the towers fell. College students were in elementary school. That blows my mind in a way. And its not me going, “OMG I’m old!” in that statement. It’s me realizing that soon the emotional attachment to that day will wane, as it becomes more like a paragraph in our history books.

Bin Laden may be dead, but Al Qaeda is still active. There are people still dealing with the aftermath of the day, every day. Be it with health difficulties, dealing with the loss of their loved one(s) or just living looking over their shoulder — 9/11 is still very real and still very strong for thousands of Americans. It’s NOT a paragraph in a history book. Not yet.

But that time will come, and I think it comes with healing. It’s not forgetting. It’s not disrespecting. It’s healing. It takes time, but it does come. I, for one, do welcome that healing even as I’ll forever pause when I think of 9/11.