Page 144 - Total War on PTSD_FINAL

“True compassion means not only feeling another’s pain but also being moved to help relieve it.” - Daniel Goleman
Courtenay: Another thing that happens to me twice a day, by the clock, ever since I got back from Afghanistan. The numbers shouldn't mean anything other than a measurement of time...every day. 9:11...it doesn't matter if it was morning or evening. It didn't matter if it was something in between...or the numbers without the colon...911 or even the actual date on the calendar...9/11.
Every single time I see that number it seems like my brain is tuned into the time because when I check my watch I am on the dot. But it reminds me of the towers, the people falling, the thoughts that what was happening couldn't possibly be real.
Then I thought about all the lives torn apart, civilian, military, police, firemen and women, adults and children, unnamed heroes and incredulous survivors.
I don't think my feelings about that day will ever change...not unless time itself robs me of my memories in old age.
I really can't decide if that would be a blessing or a curse.
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