intothelight
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One of those evenings where it rained a lot and going through the channels, I came across the remake of the Stepford Wives. The experiment to create the utopian wife/marriage/society according to the "norms" that were being challenged when the movie was first made. Got me thinking about what "norms" are we faced with and which ones should we challenge.
I've heard PTSD described as a "normal response to an abnormal situation", so with that being said lets stop beating ourselves up for responding to our trauma. Unfortunately, everyone will experience trauma to a degree in their life, especially the longer they live. Trauma changes you and that is just a neutral statement. Yes, there are symptoms of PTSD that cause great disruption to daily living and relationships, and those are the things that people work on to eliminate or minimize symptoms, to make their lives better. Then there is the other side.
It took me a while to realize that I was my own worst enemy in setting standards and judging myself against this elusive thought of normal. Sure a lot was carrying forward the comments and beliefs that were instilled by abusive people in my past, but they are gone and screw what they thought. Obviously they were more screwed up than I will ever be. What if, I just threw away "normal" and just embraced who I am in the here and now, warts and all?
Not to say it isn't really important to work on things that impact you and relationships, but at some point, not everything needs to be "worked on" when were holding ourselves to unrealistic standards. I was finding myself in a self improvement hell that was never ending as at some point I have to be OK with me, who I am, how I live and just let go and start enjoying life.
Thoughts?
I've heard PTSD described as a "normal response to an abnormal situation", so with that being said lets stop beating ourselves up for responding to our trauma. Unfortunately, everyone will experience trauma to a degree in their life, especially the longer they live. Trauma changes you and that is just a neutral statement. Yes, there are symptoms of PTSD that cause great disruption to daily living and relationships, and those are the things that people work on to eliminate or minimize symptoms, to make their lives better. Then there is the other side.
It took me a while to realize that I was my own worst enemy in setting standards and judging myself against this elusive thought of normal. Sure a lot was carrying forward the comments and beliefs that were instilled by abusive people in my past, but they are gone and screw what they thought. Obviously they were more screwed up than I will ever be. What if, I just threw away "normal" and just embraced who I am in the here and now, warts and all?
Not to say it isn't really important to work on things that impact you and relationships, but at some point, not everything needs to be "worked on" when were holding ourselves to unrealistic standards. I was finding myself in a self improvement hell that was never ending as at some point I have to be OK with me, who I am, how I live and just let go and start enjoying life.
Thoughts?