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Tuesday, March 13, 2018

PTSD

PTSD is usually thought of as applying only to military personnel who are psychologically distressed from experiences as warriors.

BUT all of us have stresses in our lives of varying intensities starting with birth and maybe before. Also, we have varying tolerances for stress - some are set off by super minor events and others able to withstand all but the most extreme with seemingly no ill effects. Wherever we find ourselves on the spectrum, we all have experienced stress.

Thinking on this idea, I see how a significant portion of my life as been engaged in reactions to some rather major stresses which then involve after affects that require attention. 

Emotional distress examples:  1) Grandmother's recurring story about a man in Pittsburgh who climbed in a bad little girl's window and chopped her up into inch cubes, and he was coming for me. It left me with a bunch of things to work through - afraid in the dark, fear I was really somehow bad, a lack of ease, a feeling of not being safe, etc.  The original trauma, repeated, left a shadow in me - post traumatic stress.  2) Mother's story repeated every year on my birthday and several times in between: I almost died when I had you, and daddy was sorry he made me pregnant. And I was a size 10 before I had you. It also left me a slew of stresses to work through such as: Did I come here as an almost murderer? Do I deserve to be alive? I'm not wanted. I don't belong here, etc.

There are hundreds, maybe thousands of examples I could share plus physical abuses. I don't need to go there. I hope you have the idea.

Anyway, our stresses deserve our attention so that they do not control our emotions and choices and distort our lives. They are not going on now, but are casting a shadow on today nevertheless. I suggest we talk to ourselves as our own best friends, and I recommend writing/journaling.

Possible questions to ask ourselves and to answer:

  • What happened to me?
  • How do I see its shadow in my life ever since?
  • Can I see that whoever it was, was acting out of their own PTSD and shadows caused by it and it not being resolved.
  • Do I need to talk it over with a trusted someone?
Possible other actions:
  • Begin a forgiveness regime (see my book "The Key Forgiveness and Beyond" in Kindle books).
  • Be aware of yourself and alert to the shadow. Try to turn it around as soon as noticed.
  • Learn affirmations that can direct your mind to healing such as:
    • I'm all right, right now.
    • I forgive (myself, ________) and bless and release it all to God.
    • I am ready to let go and be healed.
    • Today is a new day.
    • I'm whole, perfect and unique made in the image of God.
    • All is well.
Let's walk beyond our own PTSD and blossom into being all we can be. God bless you in your journey.



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