PTSD Patrol it's good to be alive

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 20, 2020

With some of my friends on Facebook, lately no matter what I plan on doing for the day on PTSD Patrol, it gets changed because one of them puts up a music video that gets my heart pumping and my feet moving, along with my chair....(yep, chair dancing again!)

Today the song was BORN TO BE ALIVE! There are two great videos with clips from old movies with people dancing, enjoying their lives. The thing is, most of the movies came out when the country was in turmoil. Wars, the heals of the Great Depression, protests and illnesses. Much like what we are living with today. 

Still the writers, directors, composures, choreographers and actors managed to find so much joy in what they were doing, fabulous things came out and made the audience happy for at least a while. There is so much power in changing even a tiny part of someone's life...and they knew that.

The lyrics of Born To Be Alive are empowering too because you can feel as if "it's good to be alive" again, even with PTSD. You can find moments of happiness turn into hours. Hours turn into days and days become a happier "normal" experience for you. 

That doesn't mean you will never be sad or angry, or depressed, but those days will happen less than what you may be living with right now. 

You are going to find what you look for, so if you look for what supports your misery, bingo, you found it for far too long, Isn't it time to look for what makes you happier?

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

We were born to be alive

We were born to be alive

Born, born to be alive

(Born to be alive)

Yes we were born

Born

Born

(Born to be alive)

People ask me why

I never find a place to stop

And settle down

Down

Down

But I never wanted all those things

People need to justify

Their lives

Lives

Lives

Yes we were born, born,

Born to be alive

(Born to be alive)

Yes we were born

Born

Born

(Born to be alive)

It's good to be alive

To be alive

To be alive

It's good to be alive

To be alive

To be alive

It's good to be alive!

Time was on my side

When I was running down the street

It was no bind,

Bind

Bind

A suitcase and an old guitar

It's all I need to occupy

A mind like mine

Yes we were born, born,

Born to be alive

(Born to be alive)

Yes we were born

Born

Born

(Born to be alive)

Yes we were born, born,

Born to be alive

(Born to be alive).

Yes we were born,

Born

Born

(Born to be alive)

Yes we were born, born,

Born to be alive

(Born to be alive)

Yes we were born

Born

Born

(Born to be alive)

Yes we were born, born

Born to be alive

(Born to be alive).

Yes we were born,

Born,

Born

(Born to be alive)

Born born to be alive...

Source: Musixmatch 

BONUS video with newer movies mixed in....

PTSD Patrol Remember what happiness was?

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 19, 2020

How many times have you heard "misery loves company" and wondered what that was supposed to mean? It isn't as if people love to be around other people. For some, it does mean they are so miserable, they want others to feel the same way. We have to face the fact that there are very selfish people in this world. For most people, it is more of wanting to be around others who know what it feels like.

Healing PTSD is like that. When you are around others who have experienced something few others do, you can find comfort being with them and gain strength from the pain you share. You gain a new understanding and inspiration from hearing about someone else who struggled but stands as an example of what is possible when healing happens.

Today's song was one I almost didn't use because it is a sad song. Barbra Streisand Memory is beautiful and her incredible voice gets into your soul, but I thought it may be too sad. As I listened to it, I found comfort in the lyrics. 

I can smile happy your days (I can dream of the old days)

Life was beautiful then

I remember the time I knew what happiness was

Let the memory live again

You can remember what happiness was too and smile. You can remember what it was like when you were not so sad and can find good memories to hang onto. Nothing will ever be the same as it was before "IT" hit you hard...but that doesn't mean that as to be bad. It can all be different and still be good!

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

Midnight

Not a sound from the pavement

Has the moon lost her memory

She is smiling alone

In the lamplight

The withered leaves collect at my feet

And the wind begins to moan

Memory

All alone in the moonlight

I can smile happy your days (I can dream of the old days)

Life was beautiful then

I remember the time I knew what happiness was

Let the memory live again

Every street lamp seems to beat

A fatalistic warning

Someone mutters and the street lamp gutters

And soon it will be morning

Daylight

I must wait for the sunrise

I must think of a new life

And I mustn't give in

When the dawn comes

Tonight will be a memory too

And a new day will begin

Burnt out ends of smoky days

The still cold smell of morning

A street lamp dies, another night is over

Another day is dawning

Touch me,

It is so easy to leave me

All alone with the memory

Of my days in the sun

If you touch me,

You'll understand what happiness is

Look, a new day has begun

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Andrew Lloyd Webber / Trevor Nunn / T.S. Eliot / Zdenek Hruby

Memory lyrics © Songtrust Ave 

PTSD Patrol Pick Yourself Up

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 18, 2020

I had another song and message picked out for today, but I was on Facebook a little while ago and a friend had posted a link to a video with Diana Krall from 2009. It changed the mood I was in. Listening to it, made me remember other versions of the song "Pick Yourself Up" and one of them was with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Songs like this last this long because they speak to being human and needing to "start again" many times in our lives.

We are all humans, doing the best we can and sometimes we fail. If we do not give up, then we can succeed at whatever it is we are trying to accomplish.

When you are down, don't look for stuff that will make feeling that way worse. All that does is keep you in the mood of doom and gloom. Look for something that makes you happy, makes you chair dance, brings back good memories and yes...even chair dance.

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

Nothing's impossible I have found

For when my chin is on the ground

I pick myself up, dust myself off, start all over again

Don't lose your confidence if you slip

Be grateful for a pleasant trip

And pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again

Work like a soul inspired till the battle of the day is won

You may be sick and tired but you'll be a man my son

Don't you remember the famous men who had to fall to rise again?

They picked themselves up, dust themselves off and started all over again

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Dorothy Fields / Jerome Kern

Pick Yourself Up lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Reservoir Media Management Inc 

Pick Yourself Up - Swing Time (1936)

The song was written for the film Swing Time (1936), where it was introduced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Diana Krall

BONUS VIDEO: Happy Days Are Here Again / Get Happy (Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand)

PTSD Patrol breaking the sound of silence

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 17, 2020

"Hello darkness my old friend" begins the song, the Sound of Silence, and that is why it is today's feature video. PTSD is like having a bad old friend. Sure you know it well enough but that does not mean you are supposed to be happy to see it.

"I've come to talk with you again" but not really. More like it came to talk to you again when you are having a bad day, or some trigger set off a flashback.

"Because a vision softly creeping left its seeds while I was sleeping, and the vision that was planted in my brain still remains" and you can become afraid to speak about it. Then you live "within the sound of silence."

This version is with Pentatonix. Powerful, beautiful voices. joining together, side by side. That is what healing is like. Using your powerful, beautiful voice to talk about it so that others can heal side-by-side, supporting one another and gaining strength from each other.

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD and then share your journey so others may find the power to end their own sound of silence to help others heal too!

[OFFICIAL VIDEO] The Sound of Silence - Pentatonix

Hello darkness, my old friend

I've come to talk with you again

Because a vision softly creeping

Left its seeds while I was sleeping

And the vision that was planted in my brain

Still remains

Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone

Narrow streets of cobblestone

'Neath the halo of a street lamp

I turned my collar to the cold and damp

When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light

That split the night

And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw

Ten thousand people, maybe more

People talking without speaking

People hearing without listening

People writing songs that voices never share

And no one dared

Disturb the sound of silence

"Fools, " said I, "You do not know

Silence, like a cancer, grows

Hear my words that I might teach you

Take my arms that I might reach you"

But my words, like silent raindrops fell

And echoed in the wells, of silence

And the people bowed and prayed

To the neon god they made

And the sign flashed out its warning

In the words that it was forming

And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls

And tenement halls"

And whispered in the sounds of silence

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Paul Simon

The Sound of Silence lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group 

PTSD Patrol I Will Survive

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 16, 2020

If PTSD Patrol ever had a theme song, it would be Gloria Gaynor "I Will Survive" because that is exactly what we need to keep hearing, You are a survivor! 

PTSD is like being in a bad relationship. It can beat you down and just when you think you are taking your life back from the misery it inflicted, it pops its ugly head back into your life. That is a relapse that a lot of people go through. 

Like being in Alcoholics Anonymous, it can happen but when it does,  you go back to meetings and call your sponsor until you are strong enough again to get back on the road to recovery.

If you are having flashbacks again, there could be many reasons but the biggest one, is an anniversary date. Your internal clock remembers it, even is you are not aware of it. Flashbacks usually happen around the time IT happened. Once you are aware of it, then you can take the key away from it and change the lock!

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

At first I was afraid, I was petrified

Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side

But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong

And I grew strong

And I learned how to get along

And so you're back

From outer space

I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face

I should have changed that stupid lock, I should have made you leave your key

If I'd known for just one second you'd be back to bother me

Go on now, go, walk out the door

Just turn around now

'Cause you're not welcome anymore

Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye?

You think I'd crumble?

You think I'd lay down and die?

Oh no, not I, I will survive

Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive

I've got all my life to live

And I've got all my love to give and I'll survive

I will survive, hey, hey

It took all the strength I had not to fall apart

Kept trying hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart

And I spent oh-so many nights just feeling sorry for myself

I used to cry

But now I hold my head up high and you see me

Somebody new

I'm not that chained-up little person still in love with you

And so you felt like dropping in and just expect me to be free

Well, now I'm saving all my lovin' for someone who's loving me

Go on now, go, walk out the door

Just turn around now

'Cause you're not welcome anymore

Weren't you the one who tried to break me with goodbye?

You think I'd crumble?

You think I'd lay down and die?

Oh no, not I, I will survive

Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive

I've got all my life to live

And I've got all my love to give and I'll survive

I will survive

Oh

Go on now, go, walk out the door

Just turn around now

'Cause you're not welcome anymore

Weren't you the one who tried to break me with goodbye?

You think I'd crumble?

You think I'd lay down and die?

Oh no, not I, I will survive

Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive

I've got all my life to live

And I've got all my love to give and I'll survive

I will survive

I will survive

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Dino Fekaris / Frederick J. Perren

I Will Survive - Re-Recording (By Original Artist) lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group