Too true Troy.......I do not undertsand how dredging up pain that happened in the past, can help us understand our present.....

I already know why I have PTSD and I didn't need a professional to tell me why.......I don't want or need to talk about what happened to me, unless I am in the mood to, or if I think by telling my story, it will help someone else.

I am not against talking about stuff, it can be very therapeutic in the right setting, but regressive therapy, hypnotherapy and psychotherapy have made up the landscape of the last 20 years of my life.......and the things that worked were the practical things...

Bright light, wear sunglasses
Loud noises, wear earplugs
Anxiety, hone in on the sound of your breathing and measure it (being mindful)

The smell of the jungle, the sound of gunfire, the tread of the dirt beneath your feet in that terrifying land will be with you always, and in many ways, it makes you who you are, but what it also does is imprison you "in the moment". It is when you can live through those moments again and again as an observer, a mindful observer of your own events, without judgement or fear and KNOW it for what it WAS, not what it IS. Be in it, but not of it. Does that make sense?

Ah listen to how easy I make it sound? Feel free, dear friend, to tell me to go jump in a lake........

You do not HAVE to do anything you do not want to do.

But as I have mentioned before, forgiveness is the only way to peace, and THAT is the hardest journey.....but infinately the most rewarding and enduring one of all. No therapist can teach you how to forgive, but sometimes we can call on others to help us, whether it be therapists or friends or colleagues.......

The journey of forgiveness is best taken alone, but you do not have to be lonely. And you are loved my friend......I need not tell you again

All is as it should be and everything in its place.......

Michah