Today, let's celebrate

14 years ago today the world witnessed a terror attack on a scale so large that even sci-fi movies had rarely imagined it possible.  When reality struck, we were shaken and scared, but also energized and hopeful.  Before the World Trade Center Towers even fell, and as they did and after: fire fighters, police, medics and countless others, whether it was a duty inherent in their job or not, rushed towards the scene of the impact to help in any way they could.  Passengers on flight 93, learning of their intended fate, took matters into their own hands to at least spare the lives of more on the ground.  New York mourned as a city, the nation mourned with them and the world mourned with us--but we did not stop caring and loving and crumble as the attackers intended for us to do.

So, today, 14 years later--as we are still standing proud for who we are: still free to disagree on politics and religion and policies and even minor things like style choices or TV shows, openly and honestly; today as we are still a nation of diversity and a Western World of democracy with free flowing exchange of ideas and ideals--I can think of no better way to honour the lives of those who lost theirs on September 11, 2001 than by celebrating all the goodness we still show to one another day in and day out, in spite of, or maybe even sometimes because of, our differences.

So today, when you pause for a moment and recall where you were when you first heard the news 14 years ago, also think about how many people you see every single day out there helping one another out in small ways and big, official and unofficial, regardless of their differences---and celebrate that Al Qaeda, and ISIS and the Klu Klux Klan and the IRA and the Boko Haram and any other "lone wolf" or well organized terror organization will NEVER take the essential love and kindness and caring that infuses humanity away from us.

I challenge each and every one of you who reads this to share (on facebook if you have it, or talking to someone or in the comments here or anywhere that works for you) at least one thing you see others doing to help each other out today.  Let's not toot our own horns and talk about what we ourselves do--but spread the warm feelings from witnessing someone else's goodness.  Whether that is something big, like knowing a friend who is hosting a refugee or small like seeing a teen help little kids carry their raft up a hill at the water park--SHARE IT.  CELEBRATE IT.  Honour giving and love and overcoming our differences in ways big and small and never, NEVER letting terrorists take that from us.

--Hadley