PTSD: An American Tragedy

I know it seems selfish because I can’t possibly understand the anguish you could be suffering. It’s just that I like to think we are all in this together, this American, land of the free, home of the brave – thing. I hate to see brave people who put their lives down for their country to be forgotten, to be hurting so. Besides, we all are one, One with the universe, one with each other, the country this planet, this solar system. The pain and suffering I have experienced may seem like a scratch compared to your broken leg, but I still think we can help each other out.

I’m not a doctor, but I understand how ruminating – rehashing can drive a person crazy. I made mistakes, and feel like there are many things that should never have happened to me. I was also in a car accident and was diagnosed with TBI. That was in 1985 and even less was known about it back then. I thought the doctor was insinuating I was just imaging the pain. I had a problem with cluster headaches and time disorientation. From one second to the next I wouldn’t know what day it was. I would know – than I wouldn’t. I would have to look outside to see what season it was. I had problems with double vision and dizzy spells too. I would act like nothing was going on. I pretended to be “normal” all the while wondering if anyone noticed. Well, I’m “normal” now, or at least I think I am. So if I can get there/here, so can you. I know it may be a longer road for you, but I was never a soldier. I only got my inspiration from reading a lot of self books.

Two of the most recent books I have read are by Echart Tolle. The Power of Now is his first book, and A New Earth is his second book. I think maybe if I share some of his insights with you it may help a little bit. Basically he encourages people to live for Now, for the moment. He explains we are not the sum of our experiences. You are more than your emotions, ego, suffering and thoughts. Your true self is far beyond the everyday emotional human experience.

Emotions are good. They are helpful. It is helpful to fear a hungry lion in the wilderness, but you are not that fear. It is good to acknowledge your feelings, but don’t judge yourself because you have certain feelings. Embrace the feeling then let it go. There is a silent watcher part of you I will call your better judgment. Mr. Tolle calls this your consciousness, or being conscious. Let your better judgment witness and even validate the feeling, but understand your true self is the quiet part of you, the stillness with in. The dark cloud stems from human emotions which originate from your ego.

Echart Tolle tells us about our “pain-body”; that is what I am calling our dark clouds. The pain-body or our dark clouds come from our environment. Dark clouds come from growing up in a war zone or living in an abusive home while growing up, or maybe even loosing someone to a tragic accident. Any type of emotional pain we have or have witnessed feeds this dark cloud. I doubt I will ever know just how strong and powerful a soldiers dark cloud can be, but I hope this helps. I hope you all read at least one of these books. they really helped me, and I hope they can help you too. He explains it much better than I can.

Here is a paragraph from The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle:

Here are a couple more paragraphs that I think stand out on their own, both from The Power of Now:

For example if you were stuck in the mud somewhere, you wouldn’t say: “Okay I resign myself to being stuck in the mud.” Resignation is not surrender. You don’t need to accept an undesirable or unpleasant life situation. Nor do you need to deceive yourself and say that there is nothing wrong with being stuck in the mud. No. You recognize fully that you want to get out of it. You then narrow your attention down to the present moment without mentally labeling it in any way. This means that there is no judgment of the Now. Therefore, there is no resistance, no emotional negativity. You accept the “isness” of the moment. Then you take action and do all that you can to get out of the mud. Such action I call positive action. It is far more effective than negative action, which arises out of anger, despair, or frustration. Until you achieve the desired results you continue to practice surrender by refraining from labeling the Now.

I hope you know that millions of people are praying for you and hoping that you can someday soon starve your dark cloud. We all hope that you can find you again. You have suffered a great deal and have put your life on the line for the sake of freedom. You deserve a better world. You deserve your world to be better.

For more on this story see (Eckhart Tolle)