From Trauma, to Trust, to Triumph – video
by Dr. Michael Obsatz
Excerpts from the video:
Trauma: “A trauma is a damage to the mind that occurs as a result of a severely distressing event. It is often from an amount of stress that exceeds a person’s ability to cope or integrate the emotions involved with the experience. A trauma can be a one-time event or repeating event which are overwhelming. The trauma can be precipitated in weeks, years, or even decades as a person struggles to cope with the circumstances. It differs from person to person.
It can be caused by a wide variety of events. They can be events such as an earthquake or tornado. Or they can be psychological trauma including harassment, or abandonment, or rejection, or physical or sexual assault, or employment discrimination, or police brutality, or being victim of an alcoholic parent, or the threat of witnessing, or witnessing of violence, particularly in childhood.
So what people have very often related to trauma is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.). For some people, it would also include a mental disorder called depression or substance abuse…
Trust: From understanding what trauma is, we move into an area of trust. The way that people can overcome trauma is that they need to develop a variety of kinds of trust. In Iyanla Vanzant’s book, Trust – Mastering the Four Essential Trusts, she outlines Trust in Self, Trust in God, Trust in Others and Trust in Life…
From trust, people begin to heal. The healing process from trauma can be long. It can take a lot of different approaches, but usually it has to involve emotional and spiritual and behavioral and cognitive ways of being. In other ways, we just do not solve it just by thinking. We have to change our thinking, yes. But that does not do it alone. We also have to change how we feel. We have to change our spiritual connection and get it to really be the central core of who we are. That is another major way of change. As a result of that is our behavior changes. That means we are more willing to open up, we are more willing to be vulnerable. The power of grace is really about the healing power that can exist when a person really connects spiritually with God in whatever form they believe God can be. And knows that they are lovable just as they are, they have always been lovable, and that is the main thing about them. So any labels, any categories, nobody can hurt you anymore, because that is not who you are, you know you are not just that, you are a child of God, you are a child of the universe, that is who you are. That becomes one of the main ways we heal, is through that process.
Marianne Williamson, in her book “Return to Love” talks about who we really are. She says,
“When we were born, we were programmed perfectly. We had a natural tendency to focus on love. Our imaginations were creative and
flourishing, and we knew how to use them. We were connected to a world much richer than we connect to now, a world full of enchantment and a sense of the miraculous.
So what happened? Why is it that we reached a certain age,
looked around, and the enchantment was gone. Because we were taught to focus everywhere else. We were taught to think unnaturally. We were taught a very bad philosophy, a way of llooking at the world that contradicts who we are.
We are taught to think thoughts like competition, struggle, sickness, finite resources, limitation, guilt, bad, death, scarcity, and loss. We began to think about these things, so we began to know them. We were taught that things like grades, being good enough, money, and doing things the right way, are more important than love. We were taught that we’re separate from other people, that we have to compete to get ahead, and that we’re not quite good enough the way we are. We were taught to see the world the way that others had come to see it. It’s as though, as soon as we got here, we were given a sleeping pill. The thinking of the world, which is not based on love, began pounding in our ears the moment we hit the shore.
Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts.
Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others is the meaning of life.
Meaning does not lie in things. Meaning lies in us.” [1]
Triumph: I have come up with these affirmations to express triumph.
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Focus and Purpose: There is a reason for them to be alive. “I know and live my purpose.”
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Resilience: “I’m a walking miracle.” “I bounce back from difficult situations.”
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Having a Positive and Grateful Attitude: Focus on connection with God and what they have been given, to then serve other people.
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Generosity: I care about and have compassion for others. Not to judge or be critical of others.
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Not to Judge: not to be critical, and not to be hyper-vigilant
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Co-Creation: Co-creating the spirit with God
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Presence: being fully present at the moment
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Go with the Flow: trusting and going with the process of your life
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Integration: integrate your mind, emotions, body, and spirit. Are all connected to each other.
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Navigation: to be able to see a way through difficult experiences. Ability to find a path to journey
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Forgiveness: Learning to forgive and love yourself, whatever occurred in your life was for the highest good.
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Authenticity: Living your own authentic life with passion. Being excited. See the awe, wonder, and magic in the world.
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Self-Care: I take care of myself, my needs, and my feelings. Stay healthy.
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Be a Channel: I am a channel for God’s love to flow through us to the world.
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Seeing the Oneness in all of Creation: Seeing that we are created, and we are all connected. All hatred is self-hatred directed at others. Love yourself and know you are lovable.
© 2017 Dr. Michael Obsatz, all rights reserved
© 2017 www.mentorsmatter.us, all rights reserved
