Filed under: Authentic Living, Rewrite Your Tomorrow | Tags: 9/11, ambition, coaching, empowered, human, inspiraiton, jaffe life design, motivation, new beginning, sadness, sept 11, survivor, wake-up call
Thank you to everyone who joined me for my free teleseminar at www.rewriteyourtomorrow.com last Tuesday. I am honored and appreciative to be able to share my 9/11 experience with you and to be able to spark the generatation of new beginnings, hopes and dreams for many of you.
Please continue to share your thoughts and comments here on this blog.
Below is a letter I wrote two years back on 9/11 that still holds true today so I thought it would be a great way to reignite my blog.
mike
*******
It’s just about noon here now and they’re still reading out the names. So many people.
But today, I don’t want to just dwell on the sadness. And my sadness is so much different than that felt by those who lost a husband or wife or mom or dad. But as I have said before, you can’t compare – it is all relative to ourselves, to our own experiences and lives.
No, today I will not dwell upon the sadness. I will try to understand and appreciate all of the good, all of the blessings, all of the beauty that has been created out of that event. I will remember how it felt to be back in the city after 9/11 and how everyone had an unwritten agreement that we would all take care of each other and that we would get through this.
Nobody had to say anything – we all said it with our eyes. And we all looked deep into each other in those days, whether stranger or friend, we were all blood. The heroism, the warmth, the love and the support was something I will never forget.
As I watched some of the shows last night on TV, one of the Fire Chiefs stated it perfectly, “In our saddest hour, it was our finest hour.” That was an extraordinary experience. For me, a real sadness is that it didn’t last.
But I did get to experience it. And I know what’s possible. And having experienced it and knowing it’s possible is what fuels me when I say to you that there is a way…that you can figure it out…that you don’t need to be stuck wherever you’re stuck. Everyday miracles are real and can happen. In those days after 9/11, everyone chose to come together and support each other. They chose.
It can happen. And it can happen for you too. Are you ready to choose?
It doesn’t mean that it is easy. In fact, it is usually much harder. That’s why it is so hard to choose. But it is possible. It just has to mean enough to you.
I still feel the sadness and I remember my friends. I will go to the memorial at Sherwood Island with my family and share with my kids little descriptions of everyone I knew that has a stone there – keeping them alive in my memory and sharing these wonderful people with my little ones. I have already hugged and kissed my wife and kids many, many times and I will continue to do so tomorrow.
Because that is the key. Tomorrow. Today, we have a lot of focus and many intentions. Today we relive an experience that served as a wakeup call for us. Today we remember again what’s important to us – we remember all the people we love. We realize that there may be things about our life that we want to change.
And we’ll start right away…tomorrow.
But tomorrow is September 12. And when you wake up tomorrow, will you have the same intentions and strength, and courage that you have today? Will you wake up with a renewed sense of purpose and vision and say “Today is the day I make my new beginning” ? Will you keep that fire alive that is inside your belly today and wake up and take the first step towards your intentions, no matter how small that step is?
Or will you wake up on what’s just another morning in September, summer over, school begun, lunches to make, meetings to go to, calls to make, things to clean, trains to catch, elevators to ride, places to drive to, shopping to do…and tell yourself that you’ll start again tomorrow or when it’s a little more convenient or when you have the time…
DON’T! Make a small decision and take a small step.
Martin Luther King Jr said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
I can’t tell you that it will save your life, but it might just feed your soul.
Start Rewriting Your Tomorrow Today!
6 Comments so far
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Dear Mike:
I am thinking of you today as we all remember and honor the lives taken on 9/11. I have spent the morning watching the memorial services, and then reconnecting with a former colleague who was also downtown on 9/11 – heading into work in the World Financial Center, running late like me, and therefore at a safe distance as the events unfolded. She saw the second plane hit – and was numb from the implications. I have been reliving my own steps – I was at Ground Zero on Monday for a meeting, and found myself standing at the spot on Vesey Street where I emerged from the subway right after the first plane hit.
Thanks for your beautiful words and inspiration in your note below. I applaud the way you have redirected your energies and passion into positive outcomes for your fellow humans.
Peter Bopp
Comment by Peter Bopp September 13, 2008 @ 2:50 pmPartner
Leadership Strategy Group Inc.
Leadership Coaching and Consulting
(submitted on her behalf)
Hi Mike,
Thanks so much for your inspirational talk —- Bless you!
I took your challenge and I FEEL SO EMPOWERED! I have sort of fallen off the path a bit. I once had a life coach practice myself I graduated from CoachU back in May 1997 under the tutelage of Thomas Leonard and all of the other great coaches — You have relit the fire. I have been inspired!
Check this out —
http://justfor30days.wordpress.com
thanks again so very much for your help!!!
Comment by Martella September 13, 2008 @ 3:01 pm–
Create a Great and Prosperous Day and Go Forth and MULTIPLY
Martella
http://www.Bridge2Prosperity.com
Hey, Mike. Just wanted to drop my regular irregular line and say thanks again–the brief time we spent talking marked, in a very real way, the beginning of me doing things the right way.
I’m managing an art gallery for a non-profit visual arts organization full-time and painting–done with the practice of law completely. I hike runyon canyon with my baby daughter every morning at 7 and think to myself how perfect it all is–not how it could be, or if only X were different: is. So thanks.
Best,
Comment by DWG September 13, 2008 @ 3:07 pmDWG
Hi Mike,
I listened to your tele-seminar at 8:00 this morning and again at 4:00 on my way home. I hear so clearly what you are saying and it has changed me, my future and all those that are part of that.
Over the last year+ I have been searching for a something, not knowing really what that was. I thought I was depressed but understand depression as a calling. I couldn’t hear a thing. Coming upon your website has been a breath of fresh air in so many ways. It is like the windows of a tightly closed room have been opened and I can breathe… things seem brighter… things mean more.
I have been on this major information gathering mission but there wasn’t much that resonated with what I needed to hear. Your site held my attention because it was firstly so visually appealing, which to me meant that it would/should have quality substance. It did!! I have yet to look at all what your site offers but what will do so soon.
So many years have passed but the after effects of that day will never end. You have changed those effects to something that is good, so good. I am so moved and so grateful to be part of that change. How fortunate you are to give life such incredible value. I will strive to do the same.
Thank you for this newsletter and yes, I am ready to live life to its’ fullest. I am ready to find out what that is to look like. I am scared but I am ready.
“Today is the day I make my new beginning.”
Mike, may God bless you and your family! Thanks for being here!
Sincerely,
Comment by Jan September 16, 2008 @ 11:37 amJan
I just read Michael’s reflections on Sept.11. and I had to share this with you.
When Michael says to take baby steps, you really should do it. I know.
Four years ago I was in a dead marriage. I lived in a community that just didn’t work for my kids and me. I dreamed of setting up an old business in a new venue.
Now I live in the community of my dreams. My marriage is revitalized. And I am developing my new business. And yes, all these changes took baby steps.
But not only that, they took Michael’s techniques, guidance and support. Without Michael Jaffe I would not be able to be glowing and living the life of my dreams.
Thanks Michael.
Grace E Mauzy, MA, Parent Coach
Comment by Grace Mauzy September 16, 2008 @ 11:56 amHelping parents instill high self esteem in their children
beautiful reflections on this day we will never forget.
Comment by JT September 16, 2008 @ 7:18 pm