As we obsessively replay the youTube footage of the total annihilation in Japan, it is easy to miss one of the smaller, more hopeful stories that’s developing there. I’ll tell you what it is…
Instead of “hello”, Survivors in Japan are greeting one another with “Ganbarimas“, which translates as ‘We’re in this together’, or ‘Hang in there’. This unbelievable spirit of community and support arises out of a horrific disaster, much as we witnessed on the streets in the weeks following September 11th here in New York.
In fact, it’s been observed that all of the phone calls made from the Towers, the Pentagon, and the planes, on 9/11 were made out of love. In their final moments, people reflected upon the love in their lives, and reached out for it, across continents, across oceans, dropping years of stony silence in some cases, to make sure that their special someone knew how much they were truly loved in the end. I don’t remember hearing about anyone who called their partner to express resentment or incite guilt; do you?
Why waste our energy insisting on being right? Why waste our time with cruel words?
If you knew that you were going to die today at 4pm, who would YOU call? What would you want to make sure you said?
If at 3:45, you were given a second chance, how would you promise to live differently?
Would you be kinder, more forgiving with others? What about with yourself?
We’re all in this together. Yeah, we’ll forget in the coming weeks, as the sentiment dies down… until the next disaster strikes.
Why wait to be faced with certain death to really start living your life?
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