My Thoughts on 9/11
I am resurrecting this blog ... it's been way too long. I'll be back a lot.
Today is the perfect day to ReGenerate a blog about ReInvention.
Think about where you were on 9/11. How did you first hear about it? Who were you with? Did you spend the day glued to the television like I did? Did you cry and wail for the horrific number of lives lost? Did you sit with the fear, wondering if we might all be endangered?
I was still living in Austin, TX back then. I was alone that morning. My then husband had gone to work, taken my car because his was in the shop. I was 30 miles outside of Austin and I knew none of my neighbors. We had moved to a couple of acres in a rural area. It was peaceful, but isolating.
I kept in touch with loved ones via telephone that day. Austin was threatened because it was President Bush's home. I wondered if my husband would make it home or if there would be an explosion at the capital or at the huge IRS campus.
None of that happened. My husband came home, my son and friends were all fine. But, none of us were really ever the same again. Our world and our lives had changed.
The message of 9/11 for me was "Life is way too short to be unhappy ... so live each moment to the fullest." As a result, in January, I asked for a divorce. I needed to leave an unhappy marriage of 25 years and search for more fulfillment. This started reinvention in an upward way.
I lived on my own in Austin for the next four years. I began dating men (that was fun.) In late 2005, I was yearning for something more and different. So, in March of 2006, I sold nearly everything and moved to NYC for a new adventure. I was 60 years old and starting life in the Big Apple .. a life long dream of mine.
My career thrived. I started speaking and writing about ReInvention. I published an autobiography called Sixty,Sexy, Sassy and Free: A Real Woman's Story of ReInvention. I was happy. Then, in 2009, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Suffice it to say it's been a challenging couple of years. Having cancer, as a self-employed, single person is overwhelming. I wondered how I would make a living. But, I've come through strong, am now healthy and rebuilding.... "reinventing." And, I'm still thrilled to be living in NYC.
Truthfully, none of that would have happened if terrorists hadn't crashed airplanes into the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001. I would not have had the dose of reality I needed to push me forward. For that, I'm so incredibly grateful. It feels a bit selfish to feel grateful .. but I know many others who's lives have been touched in a positive way because of how they translated the 9/11 experience and used it to grow.
So, I ask you .... what are your thoughts on this day? How have you grown and changed by the wake up call we call 9/11.
Be safe.
ann
Today is the perfect day to ReGenerate a blog about ReInvention.
Think about where you were on 9/11. How did you first hear about it? Who were you with? Did you spend the day glued to the television like I did? Did you cry and wail for the horrific number of lives lost? Did you sit with the fear, wondering if we might all be endangered?
I was still living in Austin, TX back then. I was alone that morning. My then husband had gone to work, taken my car because his was in the shop. I was 30 miles outside of Austin and I knew none of my neighbors. We had moved to a couple of acres in a rural area. It was peaceful, but isolating.
I kept in touch with loved ones via telephone that day. Austin was threatened because it was President Bush's home. I wondered if my husband would make it home or if there would be an explosion at the capital or at the huge IRS campus.
None of that happened. My husband came home, my son and friends were all fine. But, none of us were really ever the same again. Our world and our lives had changed.
The message of 9/11 for me was "Life is way too short to be unhappy ... so live each moment to the fullest." As a result, in January, I asked for a divorce. I needed to leave an unhappy marriage of 25 years and search for more fulfillment. This started reinvention in an upward way.
I lived on my own in Austin for the next four years. I began dating men (that was fun.) In late 2005, I was yearning for something more and different. So, in March of 2006, I sold nearly everything and moved to NYC for a new adventure. I was 60 years old and starting life in the Big Apple .. a life long dream of mine.
My career thrived. I started speaking and writing about ReInvention. I published an autobiography called Sixty,Sexy, Sassy and Free: A Real Woman's Story of ReInvention. I was happy. Then, in 2009, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Suffice it to say it's been a challenging couple of years. Having cancer, as a self-employed, single person is overwhelming. I wondered how I would make a living. But, I've come through strong, am now healthy and rebuilding.... "reinventing." And, I'm still thrilled to be living in NYC.
Truthfully, none of that would have happened if terrorists hadn't crashed airplanes into the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001. I would not have had the dose of reality I needed to push me forward. For that, I'm so incredibly grateful. It feels a bit selfish to feel grateful .. but I know many others who's lives have been touched in a positive way because of how they translated the 9/11 experience and used it to grow.
So, I ask you .... what are your thoughts on this day? How have you grown and changed by the wake up call we call 9/11.
Be safe.
ann
Labels: 9/11, ann fry. reinvention, challenge, personal growth, regeneration
posted by Ann Fry, The ReInvention HOTSHOT! at
1:03 PM
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