Recovery Tip: A Plan For Wholeness

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One of the most difficult aspects of PTSD is how it changes you. Almost overnight it can seem like your whole identity has ‘shattered’, ‘fragmented’, ‘splintered’ to use the words I actually hear from so many survivors. After trauma, this sense of internal disintegration is perfectly normal. The world as you knew it has radically altered; of course, this could radically alter you, too, for a period of time.

In my own post-trauma process, I got very stuck in the Before/After gap. I soooo badly wanted to go back to who I was before. I really, really hated who I became After. (That’s where this poem and the title of my trauma recovery memoir came from.) I deeply despaired that my fragmented self would always be that way.

The good news is that we are flexible, changeable, malleable beings. Your brain is wired to heal. Your personality is wired to evolve. Your psyche is wired to seek wholeness and integration. All of these things mean that internally you are full of the necessary tools and resources to change — all the time, throughout your life.

This week, try this:

1. notice how you’ve changed (make a list of all the ways)

2. decide how you would like to change each change; ask yourself, “How would I rather be?”

3. make a list for each change you wish to see; ask yourself, ”What would have to happen in order for that change to occur?”

From just these 3 simple steps you have the beginning of a plan. Clarity leads to creativity leads to choices leads to actions. The result of all of this? Progress on the road to recovery!

One final thought: You don’t have to go the whole trauma recovery process alone. There are so many people available to help inspire, motivate and guide you toward making change.

For example, check out my friends Deb Scott and Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino’s upcoming event The Happy YOU Year Motivation Marathon. This FREE teleseminar series features:

…over 40 of the most influential experts and celebrities, speaking over 9 days, the Happy YOU! Year includes some of the most successful certified professional life coaches, authors, celebrities, experts and radio hosts. Each speaker will not only cover how they become successful, but how YOU can take what they learned and apply it to achieving the success YOU deserve, with a rare opportunity to speak with them LIVE.

With guests you’ve seen on Oprah, CNN, Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNBC, The Biggest Loser, TLC’s What Not to Wear, The New York Times, The Best Ever You Network, Women’s World, People Magazine, The Best People We Know Radio Show, BBC Travel, Business Week, The New York Post, PBS, Women’s World, The Huffington Post, Better Homes & Gardens, USA Today, Time, Psychology Today, HSN, Harpers Bazaar, HGTV, Elle, Success Magazine, Newsweek, The Ellen Show, The Happy YOU Year Motivation Marathon offers you free, at-home inspiration about how to take control and turn your life around.

Register today and see the list of presenters. The program runs January 14-22. I’ll be listening, too! I absolutely looooove learning from the masters.

Tags: change, Identity, motivation marathon, plan, PTSD Recovery Tips, trauma, wholeness