Kathie Costos
January 3, 2021
What are your dreams? Not the ones you have when you are asleep, but the dreams you have when you are awake. Do you still have any? Has PTSD robbed you of your imagination in a hopeful way, because it is too occupied with doom and gloom?
The thing is, you have the power to change all of it.
The Boston Marathon bombing is a good example of that. People lined up to cheer on runners from all over the world. That was all they were focused on. They did not know evil joined them that day. They did not see the two bombers placing the backpacks down and walking away.
(CNN)In those 12 seconds, hundreds of people rushed to help the wounded not knowing if another bomb would blow up or not. The second bomb blew up, and even more people responded to even more wounded.
Here is a look at the Boston Marathon terror attack. On April 15, 2013, double bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon killed three people and injured at least 264.
Facts
The bombs exploded 12 seconds apart near the marathon’s finish line on Boylston Street.
According to Richard DesLauriers, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office, the bombs contained BB-like pellets and nails.
That is what they decided to do with the power they had after something evil happened to them. But the acts of compassion did not end there. People from around the world donated to help the survivors.
War veterans, who lost their own limbs visited the wounded who lost limbs to encourage them that life is not over, even though they were dealing with their own inner wounds.
Boston University took a look at how this hit veterans afterwards, "Of those interviewed, 38 percent reported that they were emotionally distressed by the bombing and the subsequent lockdown of Boston and other communities. A majority of the participants said that the bombing caused them to experience flashbacks and the re-emergence of unwanted memories relating to their own past traumas."
War amputees to Boston's injured:
'Life's not over'
When someone survives, they have a choice to make. Do they just suffer living like a victim, or do they do something about it so that surviving doesn't have to suck for other people...and in turn, heal themselves?
We have an example of that when a survivor was interviewed by Associated Press Post-pandemic PTSD? Lessons from a marathon bombing survivor. Bobby O'Donnell said his injury was in is head. He went on to run more marathons and wrote a book to help empower others to "dream on!"
He wrote a book, Running Wild, but because of the pandemic, he knew there would be many more struggling to heal.
AP: Yours is the story of someone who suffered PTSD and invisible wounds from the terror attack in 2013, and how you were able to overcome that. But now fast-forward to 2020, and it feels like a lot of people potentially could be suffering.Do you want to settle for doom and gloom now, or do you want to dream about what you can do to make a difference because you know exactly how they feel?
O’Donnell: Telling people to stay inside and completely disrupting their daily lives ... mental health is going to be a huge ripple effect that comes out of this. Emergency rooms are going to struggle to deal with psychiatric issues, because we’re telling people to not go to the hospital. People who normally would go out to seek help are now afraid to go into this environment. It’s an important time to be checking up on your own mental health. Just because you think that someone’s gone through something worse than you have, it doesn’t devalue the trauma or distress that you’ve had.
You can change tomorrow for yourself and then change it for others too! Now that is a powerful to dream on!
Remember, it is your life...get in and drive it!
#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD
Dream On
Aerosmith
Every time when I look in the mirror
All these lines on my face getting clearer
The past is gone
And it went by, like dusk to dawn
Isn't that the way?
Everybody's got their dues in life to pay
Yeah, I know nobody knows
Where it comes and where it goes
I know it's everybody's sin
You got to lose to know how to win
Half my life's in books, written pages
Live and learn from fools and from sages
You know it's true, oh
All the things come back to you
Sing with me, sing for a year
Sing for the laughter, and sing the tear
Sing with me, if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away
Yeah, sing with me, sing for the year
Sing for the laughter, and sing for the tear
Sing it with me, if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away
Dream on
Dream on
Dream on
Dream until the dream come true
Dream on
Dream on
Dream on
Dream until your dream come true
Dream on
Dream on
Dream on
Dream on
Dream on
Dream on
Dream on, ah
Sing with me, sing for the year
Sing for the laughter and sing for the tear
Sing with me, if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away
Sing with me, sing for the year
Sing for the laughter, and sing for the tear
Sing it with me, if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Steven Tyler
Dream On lyrics © Music Of Stage Three
Aerosmith - Dream On (with Southern California Children's Chorus) - Boston Marathon Bombing Tribute
