Take a moment...

In the very brief time since I've started blogging again, it's almost all been about my running/training schedule. However, today is different. Unless you've lived in a cave for the past 6 years, you're well aware that today is the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania on 9/11/01.

Words to describe that day escape me. I could tell you about my thoughts and emotions, but I'm sure you have your own powerful recollections. So instead of just trading escalating stories of terror, fear, and loss, I'd like to encourage you to just take a moment. Take a moment to:

• Remember those whose lives were lost--those in the WTC, at the Pentagon, on the planes, and on the ground.
• Remember those who serve in the US Armed Forces and keep our country safe. Regardless of your views on the war in Iraq, those in our military deserve our respect and our prayers.
• Remember your friends and family. Life is so precious, and so short. Tell people how you feel about them while you have the opportunity.
• Let go of a grudge, a hurt, or a bad memory you've been nursing. It's been said that nursing a grudge is like eating rat poison and hoping that the rats will die. Again, life is too precious, and too short, to be wasted on negative thoughts or emotions.
• Do something kind for someone--give them a word of encouragement, say a prayer for them, call someone who might need a lift, etc. If you search your heart, you'll know what to do.

That's all I can ask of you, and of myself. Tomorrow I'm sure everyone's lives will be back to the normal hustle and bustle, and we'll have put our memories of 9/11 back on the shelf for another year. But for the rest of today--I challenge you to look forward in hope, joy, and love, rather than look back in fear, despair, and pain.

More later...