Another Chance

Those of us who were in New York City on September 11th as the World Trade Center Towers were attacked thought that life would never be the same. On Fifth Avenue, crowds huddled around cars with their radios turned up so everyone could hear the news and the only other sound was crying. We promised we'd treasure every moment, love our families, live the life of our dreams. Yet less than two months later, on a flight to California, I overheard someone say that they were tired of hearing about 9/11. When I returned to New York City, the horns had started again, the anger was back, people were running to make money, and it was as if it was all a bad dream. Very few people changed. What does it take to make us aware of what is important in life? What does it take to make us embrace our dreams and live the life we really desire?

A study of great individuals in history identified "trigger points." These were moments in the person's life, or events in history, that challenged them to think differently, to act differently, and change their behavior. In each of their lives, it was the catalyst that helped unleash their greatness.

All of us have another chance. We stand on the edge of a new awareness and this one can't be ignored by one group or another, it affects all of us. It can't be dismissed by different countries, we are all in this one together. The financial and business systems we fostered are flawed, not because of what they produced, but because they were driven by greed and excess. The majority of us went along with it because we also prospered. Now they have failed. It is a "trigger point" for all of us. We cannot live with business as usual. Now is the time to rethink how we go about our lives. We have the chance to ask the hard questions: what is important to me? Am I pursuing it? Am I living out my own personal greatness?