Kathie Costos
May 13, 2021
This morning I had to go out but only had a quarter of a tank of gas. After hearing about all the gas shortages, long lines if a station had gas, I admit, I was worried. I live in New Hampshire and discovered that no station was out of fuel and there were no lines. Such a relief! Well that got me thinking about Jackson Browne Running On Empty.
If that applies to you, then you may be "running on empty" wondering how the hell you ended up where you are. You could have been driving your life in circles, trying to get away from what has been following you. Or maybe you've just been trying to run away from yourself?
Consider this about a female veteran who lived for decades with PTSD, but did not know what it was.
Ready to stop running on empty and fill up?
"I don't know when that road turned into the road I'm on"
If that applies to you, then you may be "running on empty" wondering how the hell you ended up where you are. You could have been driving your life in circles, trying to get away from what has been following you. Or maybe you've just been trying to run away from yourself?
Consider this about a female veteran who lived for decades with PTSD, but did not know what it was.
Though she lived with the symptoms of PTSD, it was a long time before Bennett was formally diagnosed.If you have PTSD, the road you got on was caused by the event you survived. She lost everything before she found out why she was suffering. "Running On Empty" and then she filled up with hope that her life could get better. She finally understood that what happened to her, followed by what happened afterwards, caused everything she was suffering from...and yes, she also experienced more troubling times with the anniversary date of when it started.
“Every year on the anniversary [of my trauma], on Aug. 24 and 25, I was on the phone with my friend who went through it with me. Every year. It was like I was stuck,” said Bennett. “I went through a lot of emotional trauma and guilt and everything. I had a lot of tears. I did a lot of crazy things. It changed me drastically in a lot of ways that weren’t good.”
Bennett sought help through DAV. It was then, 40 years after her assault, that she started therapy for PTSD and military sexual trauma (MST). “It wasn’t until [my DAV Service Officer] told me he’d seen in some of my records that there were some things that made him concerned. And he thought that maybe I should be checked out for PTSD.
“I went through a lot [with my family]; they disowned me. It really hurt; it broke my heart,” she added. “But now, I’m thinking my PTSD played a huge part in the way they acted toward me. I think the PTSD played a big role in my life.”
In 2010, Bennett was awarded 100-percent service connection for PTSD based on the trauma she endured in 1968. It took 42 years of quietly suffering before someone finally recognized her disability. Stories like hers are why the VA is making a huge push for additional research and studies into what Vietnam-era women veterans really endured. (Disabled American Veterans)
Ready to stop running on empty and fill up?
Remember, it is your life...get in and drive it!
#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD
Running On Empty
Jackson Browne
Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields
'65, I was 17 and running up 101
I don't know where I'm running now, I'm just running on
Running on (running on empty)
Running on (running blind)
Running on (running into the sun)
But I'm running behind
Gotta do what you can just to keep your love alive
Trying not to confuse it, with what you do to survive
'69, I was 21 and I called the road my own
I don't know when that road turned into the road I'm on
Running on (running on empty)
Running on (running blind)
Running on (running into the sun)
But I'm running behind
Everyone I know, everywhere I go
People need some reason to believe
I don't know about anyone, but me
If it takes all night, that'll be all right
If I can get you to smile before I leave
Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
I don't know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels
Look around for the friends that I used to turn to to pull me through
Looking into their eyes, I see them running too
Running on (running on empty)
Running on (running blind)
Running on (running into the sun)
But I'm running behind
Honey, you really tempt me
You know the way you look so kind
I'd love to stick around, but I'm running behind
(Running on) You know I don't even know what I'm hoping to find
(Running blind) Running into the sun, but I'm running behind
Thank you
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Browne Jackson
Running On Empty lyrics © Swallow Turn Music
