Trauma recovery is not something you “earn” or “deserve.”

Eh, maybe you’re right— maybe you’re not “ready” for trauma recovery. 

And— that doesn’t especially matter. 

No one’s really “ready” for trauma recovery. No one feels ready for it, anyway. 

Many of us don’t even know what the hell trauma recovery looks like until we’re in it. 

All we know is, there’s more to life than this. There has to be. 

Acknowledging that— that you want to feel and function better— is enough. 

Very often, Trauma Brain tries to tell us we don’t yet “deserve” recovery. 

We haven’t “earned” it. All we’ve done s suffer from our post traumatic stress. How can we “deserve” recovery when all we’ve done is get our ass kicked? 

It’s this weird game Trauma Brain plays with us, wherein it tries to convince us that we “should” be doing “better” than we are in order to “deserve” relief or support. 

Wanna know when we most need support? When we’re suffering the most. 

Not when we’ve “earned” it. 

Not when we’ve “tried hard enough.” 

Why do we get so stuck on whether we “deserve” recovery? 

Because we’ve been conditioned to believe if we’re suffering, it’s because we’ve failed. 

We’ve failed to be “tough” enough. 

We’ve failed to be “smart” enough to somehow avoid the suffering. 

Why should we “deserve” relief and support, when we’re such a “failure?” 

Of course— this is all fake news. Spin. Propaganda. BS (Belief Systems— but the other kind of BS, too).

If everyone had to wait until they’d “earned” trauma recovery by feeling and functioning better on their own— no one would ever get into trauma recovery. 

Recovery is not something we “earn.” 

Yes, it tends to go better the more we work at it. But that doesn’t mean it’s an “accomplishment” that we “earn” by working hard at it. 

The people who need recovery the most are those who feel we “deserve” it the least. Including me. Especially me. 

Don’t get in your head about whether you “deserve” to feel and function better. 

Remember: all you need in order to be “eligible” for trauma recovery is the desire to not let trauma run or ruin your life anymore. 

That’s it. That’s the price of admission. 

You’re gonna have days in trauma recovery when your heart’s not in it. I do. 

You’re gonna have days in trauma recovery when you doubt your ability to do it, even for one more day. I do. 

You’re gonna have days in trauma recovery when you honestly believe that meaningful recovery doesn’t actually exist. 

(I don’t have that. I know recovery is real. I’ve seen it. I’ve experience it every day.)

And you’re gonna have days when you feel you flat out don’t deserve support, or relief, or recovery. 

Let that doubt exist. Don’t push back against it. Don’t overreact to it. 

Let that doubt exist…and recover anyway. 

One day, one minute, one skill, tool, philosophy, one BREATH at a time. 

I’ve seen the future, and there is a “you,” in recovery, on the other side of this doubt.