They can't take away your dignity

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
January 2, 2021

There are things no one can take away from you. You have to give it to them. One of them is power over your life. When someone hurts you, and you hang onto that pain, anger, judgment while constantly trying to figure out why they treated you that way, you give them power over your life. They continue to inflict pain, because you gave them that power.

The good news is, as soon as you decide that you are no longer willing to give them a place in your life, they lose! Basically, you choose when they lose. This is why the feature video today is Whitney Houston, The Greatest Love Of All.

Too many times we're all hurt by people and then wonder why they did it to us. Was it personal? Was it a matter of being in the wrong place at the right time for them to attack us? Did they believe a lie about us? Were they so miserable they wanted everyone else to be that way too? Were they jealous of us? Those are questions that you may want to be answered, but the truth is, it really shouldn't matter to you at all. The only thing you have the power to do, is choose how you respond afterwards.

At the end of the day, you have only yourself to answer for. What you believe, what you do, how you think, how you act and how you live your life, is all up to you. You control no one else. No one else controls you, unless you allow it.

It is hard for everyone but having PTSD makes it harder to hang onto your dignity and hope. The last thing you need is to have someone you know making you feel worse.

If they mistreat you, betray you, judge you, walk away from you, they deserve no place in your life because they have proven you do not matter to them. Maybe they are so miserable in their own life, they only feel better about themselves by making someone else miserable.

If they stand by you, help you, care about, want you to be happy, they earned a place in your life because they proved they care about you and you do matter to them.

The Greatest Love Of All

Whitney Houston

I believe the children are our future

Teach them well and let them lead the way

Show them all the beauty they possess inside

Give them a sense of pride to make it easier

Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be

Everybody searching for a hero

People need someone to look up to

I never found anyone who fulfill my needs

A lonely place to be

And so I learned to depend on me

I decided long ago

Never to walk in anyone's shadows

If I fail, if I succeed

At least I'll live as I believe

No matter what they take from me

They can't take away my dignity

Because the greatest love of all

Is happening to me

I found the greatest love of all

Inside of me

The greatest love of all

Is easy to achieve

Learning to love yourself

It is the greatest love of all

I believe the children are our future

Teach them well and let them lead the way

Show them all the beauty they possess inside

Give them a sense of pride to make it easier

Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be

I decided long ago

Never to walk in anyone's shadows

If I fail, if I succeed

At least I'll live as I believe

No matter what they take from me

They can't take away my dignity

Because the greatest love of all

Is happening to me

I found the greatest love of all

Inside of me

The greatest love of all

Is easy to achieve

Learning to love yourself

Is the greatest love of all

And if, by chance, that special place

That you've been dreaming of

Leads you to a lonely place

Find your strength in love

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Linda Creed / Michael Masser 

And if you have someone in your life who loves you, then you are blessed. If not, then believe someday, when you are healed and ready for it, love will find you again. First you need to learn how to love yourself. You cannot give them love if you do not know what it is, but once you learn, you will be happy to give them a place in your life...and all the love you have.

Remember, it is your life...get in and drive it!

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

I believe in you and me

I believe that we will be in love eternally

Well, as far as I can see

You will always be the one for me

Oh yes, you will

And I believe in dreams again

I believe that love will never end

And like the river finds the sea

I was lost, now I'm free

'Cause I believe In you and me

I will never leave your side

I will never hurt your pride

When all the chips are down, baby

Then I will always be around

Just to be right where you are

My love, you know I love you, boy

I will never leave you out

I will always let you in, oh baby

To places no one's ever been

Deep inside

Can't you see that I believe in you and me

Maybe I'm a fool to feel the way I do

I will play the fool forever

Just to be with you forever

I believe in miracles

And love's the miracle

And yes, baby you're my dream come true

I was lost, now I'm free

Oh, baby 'cause I believe, I do believe in you and me

See, I was lost, now I'm free

'Cause I believe in you and me

Believe in you and me

Believe in you and me

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Sandy Linzer / David P Wolfert

I Believe in You and Me lyrics © R2m Music, Linz Music, Emi Sosaha Music Inc. 

hurting runs off my shoulders...

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
January 1, 2021

A new year begins with hopeful hearts across the world after a horrible year. How do we know that? The people around the world joined in to sing Neil Diamond's iconic song Sweet Caroline!

"2020 has been a tough year for everyone, so we wanted to bring people together the best way we knew how: Through music," a message at the top of the video reads.

"To inspire people to come together, we challenged fans all around the world to sing along to 'Sweet Caroline,'" it adds.

The videos feature people alone and in small groups, as well as larger ones such as a baseball game and what seems like a wedding party, where the song can often be heard. USAToday

Emotional pain is not limited to nations or races, or sexes. It is not limited to the greedy or the needy. It hits all humans. The question is, what do we do about it? How do we respond to the needs of others or ourselves?

With hope because we do more than just feel sorry for others and others do more than just feel sorry for us. WE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Sweet Caroline

Neil Diamond

Where it began, I can't begin to knowing

But then I know it's growing strong

Was in the spring

And spring became the summer

Who'd have believed you'd come along

Hands, touching hands

Reaching out, touching me, touching you

Sweet Caroline

Good times never seemed so good

I've been inclined

To believe they never would

But now I

Look at the night and it don't seem so lonely

We filled it up with only two

And when I hurt

Hurting runs off my shoulders

How can I hurt when holding you

One, touching one

Reaching out, touching me, touching you

Sweet Caroline

Good times never seemed so good

I've been inclined

To believe they never would

Oh no, no

Sweet Caroline

Good times never seemed so good

Sweet Caroline

I believe they never could

Sweet Caroline

Good times never seemed so good

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Neil Diamond

Sweet Caroline lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Hurting doesn't just rub off the shoulders of anyone without help. Understanding with empathy, leads to inspiring empowerment action. Hope is fueled by the knowledge you matter to someone. Your outlook changes and hope shoves hurt off your shoulders! The thing is, hope is a very jealous thing allowing no room for anything else. It wants to spread out take over everything in your life, and is contagious. It wants to spread to everyone you know, everyone they know and even to strangers you encounter everyday.

Think of it this way. The cashier you smiled at, could have been having a rough day, but your smile and kindness changed their mood, and they changed the mood of hundreds of others shopping that day. Other cashiers noticed and their mood changed. They in turn, changed the mood of the shoppers in their line. Soon the manager notices and makes a happy announcement to everyone in the store. Then the managers of other stores are made aware of what is going on, so they do the same and thousands of moods are changed for more and then they pass it on.

This is the reason I do what I do. I know what it is like to be hurting, lonely, hopeless and not wanting to get up out of bed. On the flip side, I also know what healing is like because I found what I needed to so that I could heal the cracks in my soul. I found what I needed to change my husband's life and give him hope. After that, it seemed only natural to share what I could to change the moods of everyone I could reach, knowing they would reach others and change their moods too. 

Last night as I was praying, I thanked God for the mission He set me on way back in 1982. I thanked Him for the inspiration of these daily videos for everyone, even while lamenting about having to walk away from just working with veterans and their families. They couldn't find me anymore because the internet got too crowded. With over 8 million others dealing with PTSD in this country alone, topped off with a raging pandemic, isolation and loneliness, it seems the right time to shift. I don't regret it. 

The only way this work gets shared, like the smile given to a cashier, is for you to share it. Other people didn't know who started the chain reaction but it still changed their days. If you are reading this, then please share it. If you are watching the videos, please share them too. Give me credit or not, that doesn't matter. The mission is to change lives not to take credit for what God put in my heart to do.

Remember, it is your life...get in and drive it!

Andra Day - "Imagine" (Live From Times Square NYE Ball Drop 2021)

Renew hope for New Year

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
December 31, 2020

Did you get up out of bed this morning because you had to, or because you wanted to? If you got up because you had to, then that is a rough way to start a new day. If you did it because you wanted to, then that means you have hope left in you, and that is a great way to begin a new experience. 

There was a time when I got up because I had to. I had a daughter I needed to take care of. I had a job I needed to do, because I had a daughter to take care of. It wasn't the job I wanted to do and I didn't have the marriage I thought I'd have, but it was, what it was....sucky!

Then things changed. I changed the way I thought about a lot of stuff in my life and got hope back. Things got better all the way around and I wanted to get up in the morning. Life was better!

Having hope makes a lot of difference. Believing that, whatever you hope for can happen, makes things worth doing.

If you are dealing with PTSD, then have hope that you can heal and believe it will happen, Then make the changes in your life to make it happen. No better day to start than tomorrow...for a whole New Year!

Remember, it is your life...get in and drive it!

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

If you wake up and don't want to smile

If it takes just a little while

Open your eyes and look at the day

You'll see things in a different way

Don't stop thinking about tomorrow

Don't stop, it'll soon be here

It'll be better than before

Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone

Why not think about times to come?

And not about the things that you've done

If your life was bad to you

Just think what tomorrow will do

Don't stop thinking about tomorrow

Don't stop, it'll soon be here

It'll be better than before

Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone

All I want is to see you smile

If it takes just a little while

I know you don't believe that it's true

I never meant any harm to you

Don't stop thinking about tomorrow

Don't stop, it'll soon be here

It'll be better than before

Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone

Don't stop thinking about tomorrow

Don't stop, it'll soon be here

It'll be better than before

Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone

Don't you look back

(Ooh)

Don't you look back

(Ooh)

Don't you look back

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Christine Mcvie

Don't Stop lyrics © Universal Music - Careers 

Journey - Don’t Stop Believin’ (UNICEF Won’t Stop) 

Just a small town girl

Livin' in a lonely world

She took the midnight train goin' anywhere

Just a city boy

Born and raised in South Detroit

He took the midnight train goin' anywhere

A singer in a smokey room

The smell of wine and cheap perfume

For a smile they can share the night

It goes on and on, and on, and on

Strangers, waitin'

Up and down the boulevard

Their shadows

Searchin' in the night

Streetlights, people

Livin' just to find emotion

Hidin' somewhere in the night

Workin' hard to get my fill

Everybody wants a thrill

Payin' anything to roll the dice

Just one more time

Some will win

Some will lose

Some were born to sing the blues

Oh, the movie never ends

It goes on and on, and on, and on

Strangers waitin'

Up and down the boulevard

Their shadows

Searchin' in the night

Streetlights, people

Livin' just to find emotion

Hidin' somewhere in the night

Don't stop believin'

Hold on to that feelin'

Streetlight, people

Don't stop, believin'

Hold on

Streetlights, people

Don't stop believin'

Hold on to that feelin'

Streetlight, people

Source: Musixmatch 

and for those who like the original one better

Journey - Don’t Stop Believin’ (Escape Tour 1981: Live In Houston)

We'll get through this. 

We've made mistakes,

But we've made good friends too. 

Remember all the nights we spent with them?

And all our plans,

Who says they can't come true?

Tonight's another chance to start again.

It's just another New Year's Eve,

It’s Just Another New Year’s Eve

Don't look so sad,

It's not so bad you know.

It's just another night,

That's all it is, it's not the first,

It's not the worst you know,

We've come through all the rest,

We'll get through this.

We've made mistakes,

But we've made good friends too.

Remember all the nights we spent with them?

And all our plans,

Who says they can't come true?

Tonight's another chance to start again. 

It's just another New Year's Eve,

Another night like all the rest.

It's just another New Year's Eve,

Let's make it the best.

It's just another New Year's Eve,

It's just another Auld Lang Syne,

But when we're through this New Year

You'll see, will be

Just fine.

We're not alone, we've got the world you know.

And it won't let us down, just wait and see.

And we'll grow old, but think how wise we'll grow. 

There's more you know, it's only New Year's Eve. 

It's just another New Year's Eve, 

Another night like all the rest.

It's just another New Year's Eve, 

Let's make it the best. 

It's just another New Year's Eve, 

It's just another Auld Lang Syne,

But when we're through this New Year, you'll see, will be 

Just fine.

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Barry Manilow / Martin Panzer

It’s Just Another New Year’s Eve lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

wonderful way to end this horrible year

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
December 30, 2020

UPDATED 
This morning I woke up to a fabulous video from Boston Dynamics. It has been such a shitty year, they decided to do something to lift people up. The video had me chair dancing and I had to share it.

I couldn't get it off my mind because it also speaks to the fact that after this shitty year, people will be celebrating it coming to an end. (Hopefully in their own homes with their own families.) That is what people do when something horrible ends. 

They will be celebrating even more when the vaccine is given to most Americans and people can get back to work, going to movies, games, concerts, shopping, or whatever else they did in their "normal lives." They will celebrate even more. 

Most of them now understand what trauma is now, sadly. The question is, why aren't you celebrating surviving whatever cause PTSD in you?

YOU SHOULD BE DANCING TOO! You should be celebrating the life you have ahead of you when you are happier. Just like with the New Year coming, dreams of a better year can turn into reality if you work at it.

The feature video today is The Bee Gees You Should Be Dancing, because you should be dancing and celebrating too!

For now, make sure you have a sturdy chair before you watch these videos. Mine almost broke!

Remember, it is your life...get in and drive it!

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

When I saw this I thought about how it is a wonderful way to end this horrible year~

watching robots dancing with joy to Do You Love Me!

Our whole crew got together to celebrate the start of what we hope will be a happier year: Happy New Year from all of us at Boston Dynamics.

Now, you are not a robot, but imagine how you just felt joy watching this video. Stunned by what can be accomplished by people with wild imaginations and talent? 

Then imagine what you can do to change your life so that you feel like dancing too!

fueled with that hope?

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
December 29, 2020

"Me, myself I got nothing to prove." The truth is, the only one you have to prove anything to, is yourself. You are the only one who has lived your life and you alone determine what you want for the rest of your life. That was the message I got from Tracy Chapman's song Fast Car.

It is about having a hard life but having hope that things can get better. That fast car she is singing about is fueled with that hope. You life can be fueled the same way. Hope gives you the possibility of dreams coming true. Nothing will change as long as you stay where you are, doing the same thing you did yesterday. If you think about what you want but don't believe it can happen, then it won't. If you believe it can, then you search for ways to make it come true.

Recovery from PTSD is something to hope for and then work for. It won't come to you. It won't happen if you sit there doing nothing but sulk. You have to get in your car (vehicle you live in) and pick a destination. Plan a way to get there...and go for it. Once you manage to prove to yourself that being a survivor doesn't have to suck, it won't anymore. Everyone else will catch on they were wrong about you, after you prove it to yourself.

Remember, it is your life...get in and drive it.

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD

Fast Car

Tracy Chapman

You got a fast car

I want a ticket to anywhere

Maybe we make a deal

Maybe together we can get somewhere

Any place is better

Starting from zero, got nothing to lose

Maybe we'll make something

Me, myself, I got nothing to prove

You got a fast car

I got a plan to get us out of here

I been working at the convenience store

Managed to save just a little bit of money

Won't have to drive too far

Just 'cross the border and into the city

You and I can both get jobs

And finally see what it means to be living

See, my old man's got a problem

He lives with the bottle, that's the way it is

He says his body's too old for working

His body's too young to look like his

My mama went off and left him

She wanted more from life than he could give

I said, somebody's got to take care of him

So I quit school and that's what I did

You got a fast car

Is it fast enough so we can fly away?

We gotta make a decision

Leave tonight or live and die this way

So I remember we were driving, driving in your car

Speed so fast, I felt like I was drunk

City lights lay out before us

And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder

And I-I, had a feeling that I belonged

I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car

We go cruising to entertain ourselves

You still ain't got a job

And I work in a market as a checkout girl

I know things will get better

You'll find work and I'll get promoted

We'll move out of the shelter

Buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs

So I remember when we were driving, driving in your car

Speed so fast, I felt like I was drunk

City lights lay out before us

And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder

And I-I, had a feeling that I belonged

I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car

I got a job that pays all our bills

You stay out drinking late at the bar

See more of your friends than you do of your kids

I'd always hoped for better

Thought maybe together you and me would find it

I got no plans, I ain't going nowhere

So take your fast car and keep on driving

So I remember when we were driving, driving in your car

Speed so fast, I felt like I was drunk

City lights lay out before us

And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder

And I-I, had a feeling that I belonged

I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car

Is it fast enough so you can fly away?

You gotta make a decision

Leave tonight or live and die this way

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Tracy L Chapman

Fast Car lyrics © Emi April Music Inc., Purple Rabbit Music