The Bali Bombings as they’re known, occurred without warning on the night of October 12, 2002.
The massive blast disturbed the festivities at the Sari Club, in Bali, Indonesia, where many young people, mostly tourists, had gathered to simply enjoy life. The terrorist attack killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
Sunshine Coast resident Carren Smith was one of the survivors. As the 20th anniversary of the bombings nears, this is her personal and heartfelt message to all of us to use the tragedy as motivation to strive to become better people:
“It was 11.30pm when I watched my good friends Jodi and Charmaine giggle as I was dragged on to the dance floor by a stranger with an afro.
I woke to arms, legs and bodies covering me. No one was moving.
There was a searing heat reaching through all that lay on top of me as it burned through my clothes. Clambering to my escape, I was eventually found by an Australian man on a moped who rushed me to a medical centre – my skull had been crushed.
Two days later, I arrived back in Australia for brain surgery, discovered both Jodi and Charmaine had been killed and I had been at the heart of a terror attack – the 2002 Bali Bombing.
Much of the traditional media wanted me to cover only the horror story of the bombing. And I acknowledge it was an horrific experience for me, and also for the families that lost loved ones.
Our future changed in the blink of an eye and we have been destined to a life of ‘overcoming’ from that moment on.
20 years on, though, it’s to this ‘overcoming’ I want to speak in this article, because so much has changed for us all.
As I watched hundreds of people passing away, suffering and scampering through the streets, I also witnessed a sense of profound connection that we all felt for each other. There was a unity that was instantly palpable among everyone. We all seemed to ‘know’ each other.
I’ve often said the terrorists never got what they wanted. They didn’t cause terror and separation, they caused incredible unity, collaboration and love.
Sure, I can recall the physical events and find myself experiencing great anxiety, but after six years of self discovery, psychological studies and therapy, it was from the unity and love I chose to shape my future.
In 2006, I began my career as a professional speaker. To date, more than 4000 presentations I’ve delivered to nearly 900,000 people around the globe. I chose to make my experiences serve humanity.
I knew there was a bigger purpose to why I was there that night. I knew I had to ‘do’ something for people and I also knew that I could. I was determined to have my experiences make me more than I was before, rather than destroy me.
I was resolute that being ‘blown up’ would be a catalyst to transformation for all of humanity, not just me.
My dad told me a story about the caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. He reminded me that the fight of the caterpillar’s life was not the transformation, but instead it was breaking free from the chrysalis with enough strength to spread its beautiful wings to see life from a completely different vantage point and perspective.
The fight of my life was excavating the gifts from the experience and then sharing with others who needed a shoulder to stand on.
While I would give anything to have Jodi and Charmaine back in my life, along with the 200 others that were lost, for me, the blast showed me a new side to us and it helped me see how strong we really are.
This is what I believe is possible for all of us.
We just have to change our inner dialogue from ‘this shouldn’t have happened’ to ‘this did happen, and now ‘how can I use it to make me a bigger, stronger, more inspired and empowered version of myself?’.
I believe the challenges we all face, individually and collectively, call us to make this choice. Our experiences will either make us, or break us.
Either way, time waits for no one. Let’s not wait for anyone to put a bomb under our butts before we ‘get it’.
Let’s get it now and see life, and each other, from a much more beautiful perspective.”
To read the full story in Carren’s autobiography, Soul Survivor, go to www.carrensmith.com
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