If you happened to turn on the TV this past weekend, you couldn’t miss the countless reflections and tributes to the victims and heroes of the 9/11 attacks. Watching the footage of the planes hitting the Twin Towers and the desperation on the faces of the people who lived through that nightmare brought back a lot of the same emotions I experienced ten years ago… anger, sadness, fear… and more anger.

But at the same time, the 9/11 memorials didn’t only bring back a lot of negative emotions. The anniversary of the terrorist attacks reminded me of how proud I was and still am to be an American. The pride and unity that our country demonstrated after the tragic events of 9/11 was incredible. Today, looking back on our nation then, it almost seems like we live in a different country now.

So what happened to the United States over the past ten years?

Since you and I aren’t experts on foreign policy or military strategy of the past fifty-plus years, it’s probably best we leave the finger-pointing to all the talking heads on cable news networks. The reality is that when it comes to professional sports and international policy matters, none of us have first-hand information, insight, expertise, or experience to provide an intelligent opinion on what was really going on behind the scenes. Nonetheless, it’s easy to point out all the bad calls and failed policies after the fact. At best, we’re a bunch of Monday morning quarterbacks… and at worst, we’re a bunch of cynical, critical know-it-all’s.

So why do you think there’s so much division in our communities today? Whether it’s in national and state politics, in the workplace, or in your own family, what’s the reason we seem to be pulling further and further apart these days?

At the risk of sounding like one of the many pundits on TV, I tend to think that one of the main reasons we’re so divided is because a lot of the people we’ve elected to lead us have chosen to inspire in ways that divide, not unite. They use words that pit one group against another. They highlight a person’s hardships and suffering in one breath; and then identify who should be blamed in the next. Today, ‘Us vs. Them’ language isn’t used to unite a nation against an evil enemy. Instead, it’s being used to divide us from our fellow Americans as a way to advance political careers.

So… when you turn off all the Washington D.C. rhetoric, what’s your attitude as it relates to both the good fortune and misfortune of yourself and others? How do you see the world?

Do you think there’s only so much of anything good, and the only way people acquire it is by somehow taking it from others? In other words, do believe that life is a zero-sum game… when one person wins, someone else has to lose?

It appears that a lot people see the world through a lens of scarcity, and others see it through a lens of abundance. For example, the person who sees the world from a scarcity point of view thinks that the only way everyone can get a piece of pizza is by cutting the same pie into smaller slices. On the other hand, people whose perspective is rooted in abundance think that the way for more people to get a piece of pizza is by actually making more pizza! These people figure out how to grow tomatoes, learn how to make dough, and turn quality milk into quality cheese… then they hire people to help them make it!

So, what kind of person are you?

Do you allow yourself to be limited and controlled by your current shortfalls? Or… do you work hard to improve, increase, and share the value that you create?

Ultimately, it’s through creating and doing that we grow. And it’s through growing that we make our companies, our communities, and our country better.

The United States isn’t a great country because of something that happened to it. The United States is a great country because of what our people have chosen to do make it. Sure, we’ve made mistakes. But we always work to redeem them. Yes, we’ve fallen. But we always get back up. You see, we’re all on the same team, that’s what we do.

Whether on a national or local scale, on a professional or personal level; we can continue to be divided, or we can choose to become united again. We’re Americans… Always be proud, never forget.