When the traumatic events of September 11th occurred, our nation paused. Thank goodness so many people helped strangers. Millions volunteered. Others donated blood and necessities to local charities. But, why must there be disasters before people lend a helping hand?
Rescue efforts and recovery missions in recent weeks have resurfaced massive volunteer efforts. People once again have new meaning to help given natural disasters such as fires and drought in the southwest, hurricanes and earthquakes in the east, and blackouts in the west. Nationwide teams of people are reminded once again to take the time to be the first to lend a hand.
The 10th anniversary of the September 11th national day of reflection reminds us that there is still much work to be done. We all should do more to step up and get involved with or without a traumatic event to prompt action. We all should think more creatively even if there is no gratitude or reward for us.
Random citizens, medical professionals, police officers, and firefighters all did their duty with the September 11th events. But, can you imagine that no extraneous circumstance compelled us to help one another? Consider that there is no gain for just being kind.
Surely you have heard the phrase “pay it forward” and really know that it not about self-aggrandizement but rather knowing that you have helped someone else. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “to leave the world a better place whether by a healthy child a garden patch or a redeemed social condition, to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
Acknowledgement of that fateful day, September 11, 2001, should always be done and at the same time communities should lead together to sustain a memorable volunteer spirit.
-Dawn McCoy, author of Leadership Building Blocks: An Insider’s Guide to Success
