Tag: pain

Mystery Box

What’s this? A box labelled, “Open me, if you dare…”

Obviously, this was left here by someone who doesn’t know me very well. The best way to get me ‘off the dime’ is to dare me, so here we go! First the ribbon, now the paper and off comes the lid! What’s inside for me?

A day without pain.

That simple. No more, no less.

Just one day. Not a lifetime, a year, or even a week. Just one day without the wracking physical pain that makes every movement torture. Describe it, you say? Imagine the second or third day of the worst flu you’ve ever had. Now, increase the magnitude by fifty times and you have my ‘good day.’ We won’t talk about the ‘bad days.’ Add to that, the mental anguish of PTSD and depression and you know why I’d wish for one day’s respite as a mystery gift from the universe.

Okay, back to reality. Since that mystery box from the universe isn’t happening today, let’s move on with daily affirmations and positive activities. Get up and get going. Move through the daily routine of mindful, meditative activities that soothe the body and heal the mind. Something as simple as keeping the house orderly can help tame the chaos in a ravaged mind. Taking time for creative activities such as painting, music, crochet, knitting, cooking or other crafts on a daily basis is another way of staying physically active while re-creating positive pathways in the brain.

Thanks for your time today. Here’s to hoping for your mystery box to arrive today.

Awareness and Acceptance: A Path Back to Self

Yesterday I commented on an exceptional post at PTSD – A Way Out. The post suggested an exercise to develop Awareness and Acceptance as a path to healing.

The exercise was simply to bring Awareness to any area of one’s life containing Guilt without allowing the Self to be consumed by the emotions, thus promoting Acceptance of the full Self.

Being a survivor of PTSD, I know full-well this is not an easy thing to do. Not easy, but necessary for healing.

For one thing, one’s life can seem consumed with guilt, which makes it difficult – almost impossible – to identify a single area on which to focus. For another, the emotions can be so overwhelming they can trigger the self-defeating thought cycles we know all too well. Having said that, let me reiterate the importance and validity of this sort of exercise when you’re healing – set aside the time, do it.

Without this sort of exercise and the discipline developed through them, I’m certain I wouldn’t be here to live my life or write this blog. Becoming aware and accepting of myself has allowed me to get back on track to the person the trauma almost stole from me.

Get back to yourself – get a little ‘exercise’ today!