Thrive on Your Lifestyle

Somehow, somewhere along the way, we as a society seem to have come to the belief that every person perceives every experience in the same way. The fact of individual experience, individual knowledge, individual background, individual resilience… these things all seem to be dismissed in favor of the belief that if X happens to little Johnny and it’s hurtful to him, then if X happens to little Mark it must also be hurtful to him. As adults we see people assuming that if X happens to someone and causes them stress, then it must cause stress to everyone who experiences it. Folks, this just ain’t so and we have to get away from treating it as if it is. What we’ve got going on is that people assume it has to be so and when they see one person challenged by an experience or event then, all of a sudden, a whole bunch of people who may never have been impacted by that same experience or event are suddenly believing there has to be something wrong with themselves somehow. Let me share a few examples and maybe what I mean will be a little clearer. I am blessed to know several men and women who are military veterans. They range in age from the late-20s to late-60s and I consider all of them good, decent, hard-working, honest people. They served in various branches of the armed forces. Some saw combat up close and personal; some from a distance; some not at all. Many people assume that every combat veteran has to have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Yet among those warriors I know, some suffer mild effects of PTSD; some are challenged with more serious effects; some experience no sign or symptom of PTSD at all. Some of those warriors who experienced combat in that up close and personal (ugliest) fashion are among those who suffer no challenges at all from PTSD. They show no symptom of having it. How can that be, right? – – – – – – – – – The remainder of this essay can be found in the book “Farther Down The Road” Farther Down the Road – Where does your life’s road lead? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTJ1B2QR