I was involved in a traumatic car accident. This recipe reflects how I have been able to program my day to give myself the best possible chance of good recovery.
Main and Most Important Ingredient
- Prayer. My grandmother found the holy rosary and started a tradition in my family. And I found it after I lost my mother. I went to the church and asked for a holy rosary. Now I say it every night before bed. It gives me strength, patience and love in my recovery. Even if I can’t do anything else in the day, I can say the rosary. It is the binding agent in my recipe of recovery.
Other Ingredients
Equal quantities of the following:
- Positive mindset – it is important keep a positive mindset and focus on the things that make you feel comfortable, happy, easy and calm throughout the day. It can be a struggle at times. When I feel myself drifting into a negative mindset, I focus on something else like watching something on my table or doing some exercise – the key is to just do something! We have to take positive action, in order to move our negative thoughts on.
- Focused breathing. When you experience trauma symptoms like flashbacks, nightmares or just a feeling that you are back in the accident, a breathing practice can help refocus your attention and re-assure your brain that you are in a safe place right now.
- Move your body. Make it a daily routine to exercise. I have been slowly increasing my various forms of exercise as different parts of my body recover, starting with walking, then cardio and zoomba.
- Do things together with your partner. Sometimes the trauma can try to push you away from people you care about because you feel the need to find some space on your own and not in close proximity to others. Find some small ways you can stay connected, and to reassure them that you will be ok.
- Patience. Be patient with everything including yourself. Recovery takes time.
- Communication. Whether or not your partner approves, it is important to keep communication up with your family. Keep your loved ones close. They are a big part of healing.
- Sleep. If you have a bad, sleepless night or nightmare, get out of bed and take a deep breath. Move to another room and leave a light on if you need. Know that you are safe. If you need peace and quiet or more space around you, sleep on the couch, if it means being able to get back to sleep.
Method
Use the binding agent (prayer) to combine all the other ingredients together at once.
This recipe makes yourself feel better and makes your day as happy as it can be. It makes everything feel in balance. It redirects your focus of attention, so you don’t think about the accident. It relieves isolation. It helps you get out in the world, to live life and become social again. Eventually you will start thinking about the future and what it looks like.
Instead of thinking over and over about how you could have almost died, this recipe reminds you about the other chance you have been given to live. Let’s enjoy life in small ways. If you can do little things that make you happy, then do it. Thank God you are still breathing now, and appreciate all forms of life around you, no matter what it is. Time is really short.
Opportunity to be an Outsider Witness to this story
After reading this story, we invite you to write a message to send back to the author. Here are some questions to guide your response.
- As you read this story, were there any words or phrases that caught your attention? Which ones?
- When you read these words, what pictures came to your mind about the authors hopes for her life and what is important to her (ie. dreams, values and beliefs)? Can you describe that picture?
- Is there something about your own life that helps you connect with this part of the story? Can you share a story from your own experience that shows why this part of the story meant something to you?
- So what does it mean for you now, having read this story? How have you been moved? Where has this experience taken you to?
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