September 11, 2001. The day that changed the course of American history. Everyone remembers where they were on that day, during that hour and when they 1st heard of the instance. I'm driving to work and I hear the radio jockey interupt the show and announce that a plane just crashed into one of the towers. I'm less than 15 miles away and I have the urge to "see" this incident. I pull into the parking lot and get to the highest floor and look towards Manhattan to see a huge amount of smoke. So my day began in a frantic scare. Shortly after I hear another plane crashed into the 2nd tower. At that exact moment I knew these were not accidents. Now I'm scared to death, not for my life but for the life of my wife (girlfriend at the time) only because she was on the way to class which was literraly blocks away from Ground Zero. Cell signals are out. Pagers (if you're old enough to remember those) reception is delayed. The next two hours were the longest two hours of my life waiting to hear from her. Finally, I find out that her subway was stopped 3 stops short of Ground Zero and all passengers were let out and advised to walk the Brooklyn Bridge back into Brooklyn. That day, the unity of New Yorkers is something that cannot be put into words.
Later that day I found out that my cousin that worked on the 87th floor of tower 1 never came home. Like thousands of other families, ours started the search. Flyers posted everywhere. People staying hopeful that their loved ones would return home. That they'd be found from under neath the rubble. At the end, over 3,000 people have lost their lives. Hundreds have lost lives trying to save others.
My good friend and business mentor was a firefighter that was active on duty that day. I haven't heard his story until 2006 when I started working with him. Today, he's one of the names that's recognizable in the Direct Sales industry, with over 22 years experience as an expert marketer he's worked with and mentored countless successful entrepreneurs. Since 1989 his entrepreurial journey and hunger for personal development has helped him tremendously deal with the September 11 attacks. He retired at the end of 2002 but only after seeing so many of his friends and colleagues perrish in those towers. His name is Ed Terranova and today he's living his dream thanks to the Network Marketing profession. He's a contributing author in the Chicken Soup for The Network Marketer's Soul. Page 9 is his story. The story of a firefighter during 9/11 and how he had to struggle, deal and get passed the experience thanks to Personal Growth and Development that he recieved as a side benefit of being involved in our great profession. You need to get the book and read the full story…read all the stories, they are extremely inspiring.
As a New Yorker living through this horrible experience was devastating. It was devastating for everyone around the country but in my opinion it hit below the belt to all living in NY. I was 21 at that time and personal development was not something I was exposed to at that time. Having that kind of exposure definitely helps with dealing unforseen bad situations. This post can get pretty lengthy once I start going into the details of that day, but I won't.
I wanted to post this article as a tribute and reminder. To remind everyone of two things; remember those that perrished during the attacks. Those that risked their lives to save others. Thank your local firemen and women who protect you, who run into buildings while everyone else is running out. And 2nd, indugle in personal development. Work on yourself more than you work on your craft. Life will throw curve balls when you least expect them. You can submerge in to the doom and gloom or rise above it. Make personal development a habbit, a daily habbit and encourage those around you to embrace it.
Regardless of your opinion or belief on how and who is responsible for the attacks, let's remember all those innocent lives that woke up on that sunny day only never to return back home.
R.I.P.
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