The Thought Closet

Being that today is 9/11, I thought it appropriate to post about a comment I recently heard on the radio; I'll call it the "Thought Closet".

 

The christian radio program was interviewing members of First Responder teams, with the emphasis on the emotional effects their jobs have on them. I've always had respect for our service people, not only military but also our police teams, firemen squads, EMT's, etc... But I have never really given much thought on how they respond to calls of tragedy and danger and do not have a choice to say that they do not want to deal with certain disturbances. When their signal alerts them, they respond. No ifs, ands or buts about it. Off they go. However, many times the other end of that alert signal are images that are forever burned into the minds and hearts of these "responders".

 

Can you imagine being the one who retrieves the broken bodies from car wrecks? Or those who were burned to death in a fire? Finding the swollen body at the bottom of a lake? Removing the baby from a broken hearted, mother's hands as she desperately wishes that it were her that was instead being carried away, covered, on a stretcher? These are graphic images for most of us to even read about. Yet we have men and women who willfully respond to these situations, multiple times throughout their life/career!

 

That being said, I have to admit that when it comes to the horrific events of 9/11, I have never actually thought about how our hero's from that tragedy must have suffered, emotionally. I mean, you think about the lives that were lost and about how scary it must have been to be on the planes. I've recently even given more compassion to the family's of those who lost their loved ones. It's even easy to solute our responders and pay words of affirmation to the dedication and service they displayed. Yet, I have never once pondered the idea the images and sounds that must have penetrated their eyes and ears. How emotionally heart wrenching it must have been to see and hear what they did!

 

Can you imagine what it must have felt like to respond to the first call, be assisting as much as humanly possible to get the people to safety and then literally watch as the second plane flew right above you and smashed into the second building? To be calming the bystanders, directing traffic and pulling bodies to safety, as you actually see the buildings start to crumble and the people inside jumping from windows, to their death? Our responders were there to save lives (which they did!), but also had to witness the ending of many!

 

One of the responders on the radio program gave an analogy about stuffing our thought closets. He spoke about how in their job's, they see the unimaginable. Things that you do not ever, in a lifetime wish to see. The best way to deal with this is to stuff the thoughts and emotions into a closet. Each time a new image of sadness or horror is received, into the closet it goes. However, there gets to be a point when the closet is so full that when you open it again, everything comes flooding out.

 

This can bring people into depression, cause anxiety, even PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). I've been thinking about this analogy over and over again, since I heard it. What I wonder is, how many of us stuff our "thought closets" and what are we putting inside them? Is our closet a place to hide memories of pain? Abuse? Addictions? Resentments? Tragic images? or does our closet look more like filing cabinets for memories of joy and love? Peace? Acts of kindness? Compassion?

 

There are images and memories that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives. Some of these are wonderful and some undesirable. We cannot always pick and chose what moments are archived into our minds. But we CAN choose to let them go. It is SO easy to stuff it all away into our over-flowing closets, but one day the closet will reach it's max capacity and everything will come pouring out. I suggest we give these things to God and find someone to talk to about the images, as they come. People need each other. We need to support each other. In a world where every second seems to be consumed and lives are so busy, it is vital that we take a few precious moments, grab a cup of tea and listen to one-another!

 

Today is 9/11. What will we remember? What will we teach our children? In rural Minnesota, we have practically no one that was directly tied to those events, but we do have our own First Responders right here who answer the calls to service those who cannot help themselves. What can we do to support these men and women, right here? How can we appreciate our Police Men and Women, our Fire squad, EMT's and all others who respond to life's tragic events? I encourage you to think with me, today (Patriot's Day), on how we can show love to these amazing and strong individuals.