The goal of some individuals is on bringing the reality of their trauma to consciousness so that they can free themselves from its intrusions into their everyday life. When we went to the house, I was still in a daze, doing the typical things of running a household, yet not really feeling that I was alive nor real. I had trouble sleeping for more than half a year. I remained trying to connect to the World. I started concentrating on what people were doing and telling me, just trying to stay in the moment of focus on what was right. I started to care more about others around me, and my anxiety was decreasing. Day by day, I started sleeping a little more, still not more than six hours. And I was really conscious of my behavior so that others around me were comfortable. I tried to smile, instead of looking sad. I could feel my body feeling better, and was in a World of love and light. Memories of happiness and flashbacks of good times invaded my mind. #RyanPhillippe 1 of 6

It was as if the door was being gently opened, allowing the intrusion of peace to enter slowly. There was a mixture of curiosity and faith. I started to feel more grounded and rational. I loved sleeping; I experienced a sense of well-being when see the blue color of my room and the sky. I started being more loving towards my spouse and supportive. This is probably because I started sleeping more than two to three hours a day, which gave more time to rest my mind and start thinking about other things besides bad memories. And gradually started feeling more comfortable, feeling assured by my own thoughts and wanting to explore them. And people kept commenting on how much better I was looking. I began to think about my future aspirations, buying a house, and how I would decorate it and the landscaping. I developed a new map of my life and joy, love, and thankfulness was amplified. I was more protective of the loved ones in my life.  #RyanPhillippe 2 of 6

Feeling like I was in a sensory rejuvenation chamber, I started to lose track of time and the days just flowed so effortlessly. People became more pleasant and seem to open up to me and I started seeing kind people from my past. My World was starting to open up, and I started feeling more connected with nature and others. The grass beneath my feet, the wind in my hair, and the Sun on my skin was a pleasant feeling.  My feelings of being isolated melted away. Life proceed with its own sense of authenticity. I am present and part of life, not just an observer. Interestingly, I am functioning well with my assignments, and am constantly given great feedback, and encouragement. I realized that I could handle life. It is like I woke up feeling safe, knowing that I had sufficient resiliency to heal myself. This combination of core strengthening—psychological, social, and physical—created a sense of safety and mastery, relegating my memories to the distant past, allowing the present and the future to emerge. #RyanPhillippe 3 of 6

My family and friends and pets and coffee and computer games are brining so much joy into my life. I feel so much love for them, they have really opened my heart. I feel more aliveness in my body, there is a tingling sensation of aliveness throughout my whole body. It feels good. I am connecting to something bigger and I feel the joy again. Many places in the World are more beautiful and appealing now. Love is more than flowers, smiles, kisses and Delta breezes, it is also the pine trees and the sparkling stars at night, the sound of laughter. In ecstasy, I look at you and listen to you breathing. In your shadow, with the fresh air, I no longer want to gaze at you as I am so tightly hugging you. You hold up my heart, which is listless and dazed. You put it by you on a golden pedestal. #RyanPhillippe 4 of 6

Trauma gets discharged one titration at a time. This natural flow is allowed by surrendering to our instincts in the present moment. It requires breaking past maps and journeys. Although you may want to escape the initial isolation and return to the familiar past, even if it was not pleasant, just to feel a sense of connection, resist. Listen you your father, or your heart and stay in the house and read that book, or walk around that park into you get in shape, like he told you. Not everyone requires therapy, you can be strong and overcome the past. This is in an effort to direct attention away from the trauma vortex. Stop looking out for the next danger and just trust your instincts. Through direct experience in the body, one begins to realize that the true safety is found in the awareness that is always present and in the pendulation that occurs within it. Pendulation allows the nervous system to relax into present experience, knowing that painful sensation that arise will pass. This is a new experience for a nervous system that has been in a chronic state of stress arousal for most of a lifetime. #RyanPhillippe 5 of 6

Understand that the fear you experienced was a product of your thoughts. The less one believes these thoughts, the more the fear recedes into the background, like the Sacramento River during a five-year drought. The water is like fear and the Sun is like love drying it all up. One can experience happiness in daily life even though fears may still arise. Fear does not have to be eliminated completely before one can be happy again. Realize that whether fear is present or not, peace is available in each moment. Thoughts dissolve when they are met directly with awareness. Direct your attention to what is actually happening in the moment. I am experiencing happiness in my life and I am not afraid of being happy I have always been afraid of happiness, waiting for the other shoes to drop. I do not feel that any more. If you ever feel like a lonely Albatross drifting in a White Squall, I will pull you to the shore. (www.thedeedle.com) #RyanPhillippe 6 of 6