Recently, a reader wrote me to express appreciation for my 2014 blog post “ReStory Notes: Some Powerful Questions & Answers” and to ask permission to post it on Facebook. In answering a resounding yes, I reread the post and realized how spot-on it was and how it might be helpful to someone struggling to understand him or herself. Here is the piece again with a few edits.

QUESTIONS

DO YOU KNOW THAT AN EARLY TRAUMA COULD BE RUNNING YOUR LIFE?

DO YOU REALIZE THAT THE STRESS RESPONSE OF EARLY TRAUMA COULD BE MAKING YOUR DECISIONS FOR YOU?

DO YOU KNOW THAT SINCE YOU COULDN’T FIGHT OR FLEE FROM DANGER, YOU FROZE?

DO YOU KNOW THAT WHEN TRAUMA IS TRIGGERED, STRESS HORMONES ARE RELEASED, FALSELY INFORMING YOU OF DANGER, THUS TAXING YOUR BODY UNNECESSARILY?

DO YOU KNOW THAT SUBCONSCIOUS BELIEFS SHAPE CONSCIOUSNESS AND, THEREFORE, SHAPE YOUR BODY, YOUR EMOTIONS, YOUR MIND, IN SHORT, YOUR LIFE?

DO YOU REALIZE THAT YOUR TRAUMA MAY HAVE BEEN PREVERBAL, AND SO YOU DON’T REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED?

DO YOU KNOW THAT YOUR ANALYTICAL, NARRATIVE, CHRONOLOGICAL LEFT BRAIN DID NOT RECORD THE TRAUMA, BUT YOUR RIGHT BRAIN DID?

ARE YOU AWARE THAT YOUR EMOTIONS, YOUR BODY, AND THE IMAGES YOU’VE STORED DO KNOW THE STORY OF YOUR TRAUMA?

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ANSWERS

YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE EFFECT TRAUMA HAS ON YOU.

YOU CAN COMPLETE THE INTERRUPTED MOTOR MEMORY OF BEING UNABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY FIGHT OR FLEE AND FIND FREEDOM FROM REENACTMENT DUE TO UNRESOLVED TRAUMA.

YOU CAN RESTORY YOUR LIFE, RECREATING YOUR BELIEFS, SO THE STORY YOU ARE LIVING IS YOUR OWN.

YOU RUN YOUR LIFE, NOT THE TRAUMA.

YOU CAN BE A THRIVER, NOT JUST A SURVIVOR OR A VICTIM.

YOU CAN FIND FREEDOM FROM TRAUMA AND LIVE A HEALTHIER, MORE CREATIVE, AND SUCCESSFUL LIFE.

WRITING IS ONE OF THE TOOLS YOU CAN USE TO UNDERSTAND OLD PATTERNS, LEARN NEW RESPONSES, AND RESTORY YOUR LIFE.

EMDR (EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION AND REPROCESSING) IS ANOTHER.