When I lived in Florida, there was a hawk that showed up behind my house for over an hour a day. I wasn’t sure if he would ever come back. He kept coming back, so one day I grabbed my camera and took some pictures of him.
When I was watching him, I thought about how far he could see from being that high up on the wire. He could see things I couldn’t, even though it was all there, just out of my view. Then I thought about how far I could see after all these years of working on PTSD. It isn’t that everything isn’t there for others to find. It is just out of their view.
I can see what it is like when a life is being tortured by something they had no control over. Most events that cause PTSD are out of our control, but afterwards we imagine all the things we “should have done” or “could have done” to prevent it from happening, No matter what we imagine, most of the time it would not have been humanly possible to prevent. We get so busy looking at what isn’t possible, that we cannot look for what is possible. What is possible with PTSD is healing and becoming happier.
I can see what it is like when a life is healing. When they see their lives from a different point of view, they imagine a better life. They are willing to work at it so that PTSD does not claim the rest of their days and inflict more misery. After all, as soon as they start to fight PTSD, it stops getting worse. The more they fight, the stronger they get and the weaker it gets until one day, it holds little power over the life they once controlled.
I can see what it is like when someone decides they do not want to live the way they are anymore and feel there is no hope, until someone tells them how much they do have to hope for so that they don’t live that way anymore. They can see a better life for themselves and all the people who care about them.
Years ago I had a conversation with a veteran contemplating ending his life because he didn’t want to be a burden to this family anymore. I explained that if he did what he was thinking, he would put a never ending burden on them they would never recover from. Then I explained how he could stop being a burden by being happier as a survivor.
We worked on it for a while and then he was ready to go to the VA for help. He was able to see his life from a different view. It wasn’t that everything was not there. He just needed a different point of view for the road that would take him to where he wanted to be.
This is from Gary Sinise Foundation and they are working on PTSD with veterans and first responders. Gary has been helping members of the military and veterans for two decades now. I do not give recommendations lightly but this group is one I know doing the work for the right reasons.
This video is the featured video today. It is not music but after I saw him interviewed this morning, it made me think about the other groups out there doing good work. From time to time, I will feature them instead of music.
Remember, it’s your life…get in and drive it!
#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD
