Outlook...

I heard a snippet of a video this morning speaking on facing the day with positivity...essentially. Believing the day to progress with blessings...

My mind swirls with antithesis, with argumentative jargon...and yet it walks alongside the thoughts i've had of truly living each moment to the fullest...of moving and having our being with love, with grace...

There is one issue with this outlook... the minds of victims still enmeshed in horrifying circumstances, still under the thumb and mind control of megalomaniacs...facing each day with positivity begins and ends as the feet of oppression hit the floor...it ends with tension in the air, with anger and rage a distinct possibility at any moment...

The mind of a survivor struggling to let those intrusive thoughts and hyper-vigilance drop to the ground where they belong does not stand on the soap box and preach postive outlook as they work to get through each day...they seek joy, seek peace and normalcy...

Please do not add the burden of positivity to their shoulders...they know...it is the last mountain to be conquered after a iron man triathlon of mountains, raging rivers and surging oceans swamping mind and heart...

This morning as I listened I felt the straining of my spirit, the shying away of the innermost recesses of mind and heart...you see my friends, the survivor seeks peace but readies for war, for battles beyond the imagination...we so desperately wish to be standing on that last peak, that last climb finished and knowing peace unlike any we've know before...

Just like the runner who has snapped a tendon, strained a meniscus to the breaking point...it takes small steps, it takes rest and healing, it takes grace for where the ligament is in the moment...swollen and sore, painful to the touch...

This is how I imagine the mind and heart of survivors...clusters of sensors going off, excruciatingly tender to the touch of those who live in peace, who take peace for granted, no more aware of the idea of the promise of death and torture than a bird in flight...

Be patient with yourselves dear treasures...go easy, go slow and find your way to the top and remember true peace, true healing awaits your steps...let no man or woman push you, cajole you, speak over you when they know not the pain and terror you have endured.

And for those still lost...still praying for escape, hold on...hold on...God has a way, will make a way...Miracle worker, Light in the Darkness...hold fast and one day your steps will lead you out and away on a path meant for love, for goodness, for kindness and compassion.

No more strife, no more chaos, no more rage, no more fists and hands of torture...no more lies of 'i love you' when they conversely show you by their very actions love is NOT in the mix, just control and subservience.

May God bless your days with hope for more...with hope for peace and tranquility...

May God hold you close and keep you safe....

Go now in the knowledge that you are loved without measure, without reservation...always.