For details on CONTEST scroll down to February 27th post.
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Redemption’s Warrior is the story of one man’s claim on redemption. But what is redemption? Is it as simple as healing? If so, what is healing? Does healing happen on levels independent of each other? For example, I don’t have to think the cut on my hand to heal. My body heals a cut without my mind getting involved. Have you heard of the concept post-traumatic growth?

If you haven’t heard about post-traumatic growth you’ve probably heard about post-traumatic stress. Post-traumatic stress involves re-living memories, stressful, blood pounding, heart hammering, nerves firing, re-enacting the original traumatic injury. Think Wounded Warrior s or Clint Eastwood’s movie, American Sniper. If you’re older maybe you remember the movie, directed by Oliver Stone , Platoon.

I was traumatized not by living through the war but by watching it play out on the silver screen via my mirror neurons which live right next door to our motor neurons. But to get back to the real people, the actual ….Wounded Warriors

Caught up in post-traumatic stress neuro-transmitters jump the identical synaptic gaps of the original trauma and flood the brain. Mirror and motor neurons cascade into feelings impaling the metaphoric heart and spirit and the literal body. That is rough stuff!

So how do you initiate post-traumatic growth? We have some powerful words in psychology associated with healing and growth: resilience, resourcefulness, creativity, recovery.

Where can I purchase some of this resiliency? Is there a map to recovery? Actually yes! There is a map. Transformation occurs when you resolve and release what does not work in your life.

Wait. That is the only the first step to growth and healing. There is more involved in recovery. To consciously invoke healing requires tangible acts, acts associated with love and healing. Post-traumatic growth demands growth-like behavior

Here is what no one tells you. While you are practicing the growth-like behaviors of resilience, reaching out when you really want to curl up in the closet; while you have a foot in post-traumatic stress and a foot in post-traumatic growth you may suffer. Recovery takes place moment to moment, breath to breath with the elephant sitting on your chest.

Behind the hearts and flowers, the unicorns and rainbows, stories of post-traumatic stress transformed into healing and recalled -- told via the retro-specto-scope -- lose the sting, the aches and pains, the agonizing vulnerability associated with traumatic stress.

Is this blog exposing the truth behind healing? Yes, it’s true. While you are searching out post-traumatic healing you could still hurt. Here is the point. You can put your attention on trauma or healing. What you pay attention to is what you get more of. This is the lesson of mirror and motor neurons.

More on them in the next blog…..