September 11, 2001 was my daughter Sydney’s 8th birthday.
It has been 10 years since that day and much has changed. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, the way my family was touched by the events of that day does not compare to what we collectively have gone through, but it is our story, and in a strange way, it may even have to do with your business.
My sweet girl is about to turn 18 and head off to college, and for a decade she has had to share her special day with a tragic event. While we spent the first few years after 9/11 trying to bifurcate it from our little girl’s birthday, it proved almost impossible to do. When asked for her birthday for some form or something or other, she would reply “September 11th” and the person asking would almost inevitably reply, “Oh, I’m sorry.”
The surprising thing is that now, when my wife and I speak with our girl about sharing her birthday with a national tragedy, she says it doesn’t really bother her anymore because it has made her, as she says, “a better person.”
“What I learned is that there are a lot worse things that can happen than having something so bad happen on the day you were born. People suffered a lot more than me, and so I appreciate what I do have. And more than that, I think that I am a more compassionate person having to think about both joy and sorrow every year on my birthday. Also, when I was a kid, I thought the world revolved around me. I quickly learned that it didn’t. I appreciate that lesson too. I see that the world is a lot more complex than I ever thought, and a lot more damaged, and I hope that I can make it better place.”
What more could a dad ask for?
A lot has indeed changed in the last decade, the multitudes of which will be discussed all week long. In some senses, not many things are better: We live in a more fearful world now, our country is being challenged in new and difficult ways, and divisions seem starker than ever.
And yet.
Not to be Pollyannaish, but let me suggest that in plenty of ways, the glass is half full. I know, I know, this is supposed to be a column about small business, and what does small business have to do with 9/11?
Everything.
Over the past decade I have had the privilege of having been sent by the State Department to speak all over the world about small business to countries and to people who want to boost entrepreneurship, who want their piece of the pie. They know that all sorts of good happens when people have a vested interest in a business:
* They help build a stable community.
* They create jobs.
* They foster innovation.
* They increase the tax base.
Most important, I think, is that entrepreneurs are like pebbles thrown into a pond: They send out ripples of hope and opportunity, ripples of economic viability and creativity, and even bigger ripples of possibility. In the past 10 years, entrepreneurship has marched across the globe, taking root in Vietnam, China, India, and South America . It is the tonic that fosters the belief that a better world is possible, for yourself, your family, your community, your country.
So on this 10 year anniversary of 9/11, I have seen with my own eyes that, while the bad news gets most of the press, the good news is out there. More people than ever are breaking out of poverty and despair through entrepreneurship, and, as always, a new group of 18-year-olds are as idealistic as ever, convinced they can make the world a better place.
Happy birthday, sweet Sydney.