September 11th 5 Years Later
By: L. John Mason
5 Year Anniversary of 9/11
Where were you 5 years ago on September 11th? How has your world changed since that day, when New York City, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania were scarred by planes crashing, when daily life was disrupted by groups of people from far away cultures with anger toward the United States?
The news media in the United States, and I suspect from around the globe, will be “hyping” this anniversary to improve their ratings and to maintain their controlling position over public anxiety and irrational hysteria. September 11, 2001 has changed our world in many ways. We all must adapt ourselves to new parameters when traveling, communicating, doing business, interacting with various cultures, and psychologically, if not physically, protecting our families.
The world has become a smaller and, perhaps, a more insecure place. We can not afford to be so naïve or so locally focused. People from very remote parts of the world are trying to get our attention and their desperation for attention has taken some very rude directions. As we take our heads “out of the sand,” we are looking at situations that we can not control and might have life or death implications for people we care about. This is the definition of negative stress. When we care about someone or something, but can not control what happens, then we are often in a position of being victims to the perceived stress from these uncontrolled situations.
We can not control how other people feel or how they might react. The only thing that we can control is the way we respond in these difficult situations. Now, more ever before in human history, we must learn to control our reactions and, in so doing, control our health and our available energies.
Time management and setting priorities is important. Understanding our unique basic needs (requirements) and finding ways of meeting these needs becomes more important. Learning how to eat “right” and exercise “right” and the practice relaxation/stress management are all more essential. Being positive role models for our children, our spouses, our friends, and even our co-workers is more important now.
All of these counter measures begin with venting our fears and frustrations. After we can get these out of the dark corners of our minds, then we have the opportunity to have perspective and to practice the self-care techniques that can keep use from becoming “victims” to our own fears and stresses.
If you feel like participating in a venting process and then a search for positive solutions to our September 11th anxieties, then join us on the 5th anniversary for our conference call to share our stories and search for useful positive solutions to our personal stress and anxiety.
My 9/11 Story:
Like everyone else, I experienced a very unique and life changing reaction to the events of 9/11 in 2001. Everyone had their own history of events and life situations in place when we had our world shaken by the unexpected and completely unusual events of that day.
For me, the trauma actually started before September 11, 2001. My mother had had a stroke (CVA) the week before 9/11 and she passed away the evening of September 10th. I was emotionally involved in grief and coping with the tragedy. A family friend called me early in the morning of September 11th to ask if I was watching television and aware of the events unfolding in New York City. I rushed to the TV and soon was caught up in the drama of watching “live coverage” of events that I did not understand or had ever imagined. When people are scared or anxious they crave more information in an attempt to figure what is going, how to survive, and what possible actions should they be taking to keep from dying (or having loved ones die.) After 30 minutes of media chaos, the telephone rang again. It was the local television news broadcast asking if I could down to the TV station and go “on-air” to provide “stress management” to an anxious local world of viewers. I could not say “No,” nor could I figure what exactly I could do or say to be helpful. Somehow, I got down to the TV station in about 30 more minutes. As I drove myself, my mind was filled with my personal grief, confusion, anger, anxiety, and lack of certainty as to what all this would mean. I looked into the faces of people driving their cars and saw wide-eyes and upset and confused faces. At the TV station, they put me on camera and asked me to solve their viewers’ anxiety. Stress management in a state of crisis is not the highest priority for most people. Survival is. But I did manage to say an important thing regarding viewer’s anxiety. I said, “If you find that you are too overwhelmed by anxiety and media created confusion, you should consider turning off your TV and getting support from your family and friends.” People are desperate for information during a crisis, but being bludgeoned by repeatedly seeing planes flying into buildings, did not seem particularly useful to me as a professional “advice giver.”
Two weeks later, I had to fly out of state for a seminar that I was leading in Phoenix, AZ. It was a very weird experience. Travel was different. Security was different. Lack of security was a huge issue. The behaviors of uncomfortable co-travelers was judged and felt suspicious. It was weird. Traveling is not the same. There is more fear and insecurity than before 9/11. We all have to adapt. We all have to learn how to cope. And, in this changed world, we all have to learn how to take even better care of yourselves and our children so we can have the highest quality of life in a damaged world…
Please take good care of yourself.
John Mason
L. John Mason, Ph.D. is the author of the best selling “Guide to Stress Reduction.” Since 1977, he has offered Executive Coaching and Training.
Please visit the Stress Education Center’s website at http://www.dstress.com for articles, free ezine signup, and learn about the new telecourses that are available. If you would like information or a targeted proposal for training or coaching, please contact us at (360) 593-3833.
If you are looking to promote your training or coaching career, please investigate the Professional Stress Management Training and Certification Program for a secondary source of income or as career path.