WHY “GET OFF’ THE ROLLER COASTER RIDE

Trauma as a rollercoaster BettinaSparkles.com

Has your life been like a chaotic roller coaster ride way too long?

            I, too, suffered many ups and downs from a very young age into adulthood. All of us deserve smoother sailing in life. I was finally able to get off my wild ride. 

I am eager to share how I stopped the roller coaster.

Please note 2 important facts:

1st Abused children carry the burden of trauma usually without ever healing it.

2nd The weight of unhappiness increases constantly because many new traumas are laid upon the original trauma.

            A divorce was one of my added traumas piled on top of all the earlier ones. This event made me feel worse than ever. I married at age 26 & divorced at 28. The man I had married was a good man but I was the unhappy one and never looked for solutions. 

Instead I chose to run.

            Even though “I” chose the separation, I felt horrible immediately afterwards and for the next 15 years. I felt like “a total “failure” -helpless, hopeless and all alone with many inner struggles. At the time I didn’t know that my destructive behavior was caused by the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress –PTSD-which infested my mind.  Instead, I wrongly blamed My Higher Power or God for the mess I was in.

            You can probably relate to the following actions.  I tried to fill the emptiness by looking for Love in all the wrong places. I focused on physical good looks. I searched for a “prince charming” who I believed would solve my problems.  I also drank more alcohol.  It gave me temporary relief but caused me to make more foolish choices. “Failing relationships” is a major PTSD symptom.

How was I able to finally stop the roller coaster of insanity?

            Some people must have noticed that I was “smiling on the outside but crying on the inside” and, showing a lot of insecurity.  One day my friend, Linda, reached out to help me.  She knew I didn’t have any relationship with God. She shared that years back she had also gone through rough times, just like me, but with the Grace of God she found new happiness. 

            Here’s Linda’s solution. A friend gave her the Unity Daily Word, a devotional booklet.  Now, she was risking doing the same for me. She said for me to simply read one little page per day.  I did as she suggested.  Dear Readers, I was praying again and soon felt comforted.   

            Slowly, my ideas about an unfriendly God changed. After a year, I began to believe that the Nature of God is only Love, which does not punish.  Also, praying opened the door for me to be diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – PTSD – and, gave me the strength to choose recovery.

As my PTSD healing progressed, I was led unto a beautiful spiritual path.

            As a closer relationship with God evolved I became happier and happier.  All my spiritual practices and reading materials gave me more inner peace than I had ever experienced before and still does to the day I am writing this. 

The “Helping Hand of God” working through Linda saved my life. 

I hope my example shows you how easy it is to get off a chaotic roller coaster ride.

Blessings.

 

OVERCOME THE STIGMA of -PTSD- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Hi friends.

Let’s get over “what other people think about us” as we cope with life and search for happiness.  Victims of trauma must put “Stigma” on the backburner to heal.  It’s important for us to acknowledge our struggles, process them, so we can move on and live in peace.

Not so long ago actions and reactions were cause for us to be labeled “crazies” and material for mental institutions.  Even during my career I worried that if the company found out much about my mental turbulence, I would get fired.   But, there’s been a big shift!

Thankfully, The Mental Health Community has acknowledged PTSD, as a mental disorder which requires urgent care.  Professionals agree that if feelings of traumas are not expressed and let go within a year, PTSD may develop.

People who experience any kind of TRAUMA- such as bullying, accidents, shootings, natural disasters, death, severe physical illnesses, divorces, rape, abortions, and loss of houses, child abuse, terrorism or war-MUST DEAL WITH THE EVENT IMMEDIATELY- NO MATTER WHAT THE CAUSE.

Right afterwards, we must acknowledge that something horrific happened to us and that our reactions are normal. We may be in shock, scream, and cry IT’S ALL OK.  It’s important to talk to friends or professional and express our feelings.

Please know that if we don’t release hurtful feelings within 1 year, PTSD develops.  We start to have a very negative outlook about ourselves, our life and the world, in general.  This is no way to live.

Why let “Stigma” go?  It is to save our lives.  When we find our struggles are so unbearable we must find help. Here’s a glimpse of my life, of how I suffered and what finally worked for me.

On the outside, I wore a “Smiley Mask” and seemed to function OK in life and my beloved flight attendant career. On the inside I suffered from “unaware” Child Abuse PTSD until age 50.  All my life I felt inner chaos, fear of people, unworthy, unwanted and unloved, all alone, helpless and hopeless. I began “Looking for Love in all the wrong places,” outside of me and medicated the pain with alcohol.

During that dark time I got divorced and felt like a total failure.  I placed blame on everyone but me.  I even blamed God and put “the punishing God” on the backburner for 20 years.  The action made life even more miserable.

I’ll never forget how my dear friend, Linda, came to the rescue and caused me to have a “wake-up call” when I was 45.  She knew I didn’t have a relationship with God.  Hesitantly, she told me that she was once in the same place as I was.  She said, “A friend gave me a Daily Prayer booklet which changed my life, and now I’d like to do the same for you.”

Linda stuck a daily devotional pamphlet into my purse.  She suggested I read one page a day. I did.  Every day I was infused with hope and love.  I did this for 5 years and made many life-style changes.

Most importantly my mind was opened to an all-loving God.  When I had Child Abuse Recall God helped me seek a therapist and face the pain of my childhood.  PTSD Recovery deepened my spiritual journey for the last 30 years.

Set Your PTSD Free and live in Harmony!