let them feed your power to be happier

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 9, 2024

When something bad happens, we wonder why it happened to us, especially if it involved the actions of another person. It is one of those things there is never a clear answer to, we sure to manage to come up with many reasons to help us make sense of it. We never wonder why good people showed up to help us afterward.

When I heard, "2 officers, 1 first responder killed responding to domestic violence call in Minnesota; shooter also dead" on NBC News, I couldn't let it go. At first, I thought it was because I survived my first husband trying to kill me. After all, police officers showed up. I was grateful they did but honestly, I was more focused on why the man I married turned into some evil monster. Over the years I began to wonder why the police officers showed up knowing every call was a risk they were willing to take.

This is from the article above.

"Our police officers and our fire paramedics, they come to work every day. They do it willingly. They know that they might have to give up their life for their partners, for someone else. They know they have to give up their life sometimes, and they do it anyways," Schwartz said. "And you cannot understand it unless you’re in the profession."

And now I wonder why compassionate people show up when it is so much easier to be evil.

Some of you may be focusing on the reports of police officers doing bad things. We lump every other officer into that group without realizing it was only a few out of many. Unfair to the rest of them but we do it. We never wonder why being judged because of the actions of others doesn't keep the good ones from showing up to help us.

It isn't just police officers we do that with. Its everyone. I want to stop wondering what makes people evil. It's harder to be good and that's what I want to know about them.

I have good reason to be depressed and despondent right now. My husband's life is on the line because some people with jobs that are supposed to care about patients don't really care about them. I could focus on them and be filled with resentment. I choose to focus on all the good people doing all they can to help my husband. I choose to do this because I refuse to let the bad ones hold that power over me. 

It isn't easy. The easy way is to yield to bad thoughts but that isn't beneficial. It eats away hope from my soul. If I allow that to happen the bad ones win. Imagine if I gave up. I haven't given up on anything and am not about to do it now. I have too many reminders that there are more good people in this world than ones filled with all the negative forces seeking to take power away from others along with hope.

Life is hard enough at times, even with a good attitude about it. Take away hope, judge others by what others do, and you'll be miserable.

Choose to focus on what others do for you despite what others do to you. Realize that they hold more positive power for you than those who seek to harm you.

Too many people harm those with #PTSD out of ignorance. Sadly, some simply enjoy the damage they can inflict. We can focus on them, surrender what little joy we have left, or we can see them for what they truly are, and walk away. Don't give your power over to them. Too many good people are waiting to help you become happier because when they do, they are filled with gratefulness they were able to. Seek them, appreciate them, and let them feed your power to be happier. 

Study found 63% had significant symptoms of PTSD families of Covid-19 ICU patients

"Even that small act of compassion from the health care team to the family can really have a really powerful impact for those family members and their risk of developing these (PTSD) symptoms," Amass said.

And that is how everyone heals, no matter the cause of PTSD. Compassion goes a long way toward helping them.  When you read the rest of the article, please keep that in mind so that you never undervalue the power of love.

Family members of Covid-19 ICU patients may emerge with a different condition, study says

CNN
By Madeline Holcombe
April 25, 2022

Amass and his team surveyed family members in the months after a loved one was admitted to the ICU with Covid-19 in 12 hospitals across the country. Many of the people studied were limited in visitation and contact with the patient. The study found that of the families that responded to the survey, 201 out of 316 (about 63%) had significant symptoms of PTSD.

CNN)When thinking of post-traumatic stress disorder, your mind may go to a movie about war.

It's a quiet day at base camp when suddenly the enemy launches an attack. The main character is scrambling to respond to incoming fire, making quick decisions about how to respond to danger that is largely out of their control.

In many ways, it's a lot like the experiences of families of patients in the intensive care unit with Covid-19, said Dr. Timothy Amass, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

These family members, too, often see an abrupt change in circumstance, have to make difficult decisions quickly and feel a loss of control, he said. And often, they come away from the experience with symptoms of anxiety, depression and PTSD, according to a new study published Monday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
read more here

we can choose to do something

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 12, 2022

With so many horrible things going on in the world right now, it is understandable to feel hopeless. After all, we are not in control over much. We cannot stop the bombs and slaughter of Ukrainian citizens. We cannot get them food water and supplies as Russian forces surround them. We cannot stop the Russian soldiers from murdering citizens. Only Putin can do that, but he won't.

Sure we can pray that God opens their hearts and minds so they see the difference between defending their own country during war and what they are doing in Ukraine. That has actually been working. Some have seen what they are becoming and it makes them sick to their stomachs. They are telling citizens in Ukraine they had no idea what they were being sent to do after they surrender. The most remarkable thing is, the videos of this happening also show compassion the Ukrainian people have for those sent to kill them.

‘I didn’t want to fight’ -- Ukraine offers Russian soldiers 5 million rubles, pardon

(WILX) - The Ukrainian government, as well as many Ukrainian civilians, have made a point of saying on camera that they do not hold the Russian soldiers to blame for the war ordered by Vladimir Putin.

“I didn’t want to fight,” said one Russian soldier, interviewed after being captured in Ukraine. “I will say the Ukarainian army are nice guys. They didn’t hit me. They gave me food.”

Now, Ukraine is backing that sentiment with a direct offer.

TV presenter Maria Yefrosinina, who is an ambassador of the United Nations Population Fund in Ukraine, has announced an offer to Russian soldiers from the Ukraine Government, funded by the global IT community.

The thing is, no matter how bad something is, we can do nothing while it gets worse, or, we can choose to do something, no matter how small we may thing it is. Nothing changes for the better if we do nothing.

If you are in pain, you understand what it feels like. Then you can also understand the pain someone else is living with. If you have ever lost hope, then you know what it feels like when others lose hope. No matter what they are going through, the chances are, you went through the same thing.

Sure you could remember what others did to you and decide to do the same, but it is better to remember what it was like when someone did something for you and do the same.

Remember what words would have given you comfort and restored a sense of hope within yourself, and do the same for others.

Remember what it felt like to be given the glimmer of things getting better for you, and do the same for others.

Remember what it felt like when someone showed you kindness after others only showed you their backs, and do the same for others.

Do what you can for others and heal yourself at the same time. You do not have the power to change the entire world, but you are empowered to change the world for someone else.

“Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.” ― Saint Augustine