In no special order, I would like to offer to you my collage of trauma. And I’m pleased to share for the majority of it, I’ve arrived at a place of healing where my spiritual energy is able to continuously flow and I’m able to serve as the Daughter of the Most High, wife, mother, daughter, sister, Godmother, niece, cousin, aunt, friend, colleague, peer, neighbor, and loving stranger. Also, worth mentioning, I realize that traumatic events are inevitable but if we take lessons learned from our journeys and apply it to the next ones, it is possible to recover, quicker than before, build resilience to bounce forward and even become anti-fragile whereby we don’t find us wiping ourselves up from the floor but swerving with the punches. Or riding the wave, instead of crashing against it. This is spiritual warfare. And we’ve never been promised to not feel pain. Life isn’t fair. Yet we can be carried and even elevated, if we choose.
Similar to the stretch marks and C-section scars I proudly wear on my body as badges of honor for giving birth to our two healthy sons, I offer this list. This no longer is a sad or angry list but an ‘I conquer list’. This is my resume of lived experiences and testimonials that I’m a Thriver with an anti-fragile spirit. My hope is to guide loved ones and neighbors alike when called upon and divinely inserted. If you’re still with me on this communication, we may induce that my story is meant to be shared with you, for a purpose – as there are no such thing as coincidences. Common threads we might share include violence, injustice, hate, mental illness, wickedness, pestilence, tragedy, ignorance, marginalization, oppression; overwhelming grief and loss here on Earth and beyond. All of these threads share epidemics, whether we’re talking about the Obesity Epidemic, the Mental Health Epidemic or the Substance Use Disorder Epidemic then place the tri-factoring and over-lapping epidemics into the Covid Pandemic as well as unwanted war and it’s a recipe for multi-versal disaster.
Crushing events that have wreaked spiritual warfare and put my family of origin as well as the one my husband and I created at risk for blocking wholesome energy include but are not limited to divorce, infidelity, incest, alcoholism, immigration, homicide, food insecurity, poverty, cancer, depression, orphaned, infertility, geographical distance, lack of transportation and housing, loneliness and social isolation, death by suicide, food addiction and obesity, anxiety and depression, hallucinations, post-traumatic stress disorder, bullying and slander, felony, rape while being held at knifepoint, abortion, betrayal, physical assault, mugged, fatal motorcycle accident, financial suicide, rejection, offense, death on Earth, manmade and natural disasters, 9/11, global terrorism and war, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, adversity, unacceptance, pregnancy and miscarriage, hormonal imbalance, loss of child, medical malpractice, loss of pets, discrimination and unemployment, suicidal ideation, gun violence, deception, physical wound, childcare trauma and abuse, burglary, child abduction attempt, unforgiveness, jealousy, toxic relationships, career barriers, fatal overdose, loss of independence and dignity, domestic unrest, pandemic, remote work and school life, caregiving, widowhood. With a list like this, a lot can be left to be desired. And so we do, with trust – believing the best is yet to come. A miracle is going to happen, at any time. We meet our fears with faith. Mantra: I choose faith over fear.
~Isaiah 43:2
Want a deeper dive? Check out Chapter 3: Collage of Crushing Events of ‘Rise Above: A Playbook On How-To Keep Energy Flowing.’
Photo by Susan Wilkinson on Unsplash
Dr. Jaime L. Pula is the author of her newly released book titled, ‘Rise Above: A Playbook On How-To Keep Energy Flowing.’ She can be reached at jpula@artofhealthsciences.life. And she enjoys connecting on LI at: www.linkedin.com/in/drjaimelpula001/.