There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered. - Nelson Mandela
As we look back to that epic day 11 years ago and all the vivid details jump out at us, we also remember how far we have come. I Thank God every day for the healing that we as individuals and as a Community - as a Country - have undergone. The suffering continues even today - for the survivors, for our Soldiers still fighting the good fight to make and keep us safe, for all of us who have been fundamentally altered by the actions of a handful of thugs. But the healing also continues! We came together after that tragic day in a pure simple way like never before in my lifetime! Patriotism again became a value to be proud of - to display with unity like never before or since! And each of us found our most inner strength - we leaned on our belief in God, in Good People, in Country, in HOPE!
Today, I am reminded that I also went through a parallel transformation when I made the decision to launch my quit journey! I had literally been threatened with death from my own manner of living, that "friend" that I believed brought me so much comfort. On March 14, 2010 the comfort was gone - forever! I was diagnosed with COPD/Emphysema and there is no cure! The reality of the horrible irreversible damage lay before me! It was time to search for my greatest inner strength - time to draw on my God, my Community, myself and verify to all that LIFE IS PRECIOUS! My Creator wants me to LIVE ABUNDANTLY - even now, especially now!
But unlike that other searing tragic event of History, my personal confrontation with mortality was self-imposed! Now, I could use even that as an excuse to stay stuck and feel sorry for myself OR I could recognize - did recognize that since I got myself into this - I have the POWER and responsibility to halt the self-destructiveness and LIVE ABUNDANTLY with the Quality and Quantity of time left in me!
What would have happened in 2001 had we just rolled over and declared ourselves defeated? Would the destruction have stopped? I'd be surprised to find even one single person who would believe that to be the best option! Yet, the option we have chosen still has a lifetime - a generation - of ongoing suffering! The soldiers of today were in First Grade when those towers came down! The suffering continues......But so does the HOPE! So does the belief that we have done as much as we could to affirm our determination to survive - our belief in a LIFE of FREEDOM from FEAR!
We all have within us Inner Strength that we never knew we had! You and I need to dig deep and know that we want to live - but not just live, but LIVE FREE - from addiction, from self-destruction, finding the best within us as God's Creatures! Quitting means the bottom line is keeping those sickerettes away from our faces! But Quitting is so much more than that - it's deciding to Validate LIFE! Keep 'em away from your face and LIVE!
