From the desk of Franco The Succulent:
My first book should be out very shortly, titled "Franco The Succulent", available wherever books are sold. Theoretically.
I mentioned this recently to someone I admire and respect, and we discussed my passion for writing. It's just something I've always felt compelled to do.
I enjoy writing. It's my flow.
This person suggested that I start a "blog".
I've written many books over the years. My wife and a few close friends would read them, tell me they loved them, and then I'd delete them.
I've probably deleted seven or eight books over the past few years.
This would infuriate my wife.
Sue: "Why did you just delete that? That was good!"
Me: "I don't know. I just didn't like it."
I'd delete them for various reasons that I couldn't specifically articulate, but most often, it would be because I wasn't mentally well when I wrote them, and I could tell that when I would reread them to edit them.
I have suffered from Complex-PTS for most of my life.
In 2018 I went to a program known as Save A Warrior®. Save A Warrior is the premier solution for veterans and first responders suffering from Complex-PTS, suicidal ideation, depression, and anxiety. Complex PTS is the reason there is a suicide epidemic in our veteran/first responder communities.
It has nothing to do with the "PTSD" we think we have.
Complex PTS begins in childhood (usually due to some form of abuse/neglect) in the form of Childhood PTS. When compounded with the adult moral injuries one experiences in the life of a military/first responder, the combination of the two collapses into Complex-PTS.
That is what I had when I came to Save A Warrior.
Save A Warrior is a conversation. In that conversation, the facts of my circumstances were presented to me, and I could not deny them.
I recognize the truth when I see it.
I was f*cked with a side of f*cked.
There was no doubt in my mind that I had this "Complex PTS" that they spoke about.
They also mentioned that if I didn't do something about it, I was hundreds of times more likely to commit suicide than the average person.
I knew that was the truth because I had been thinking about suicide for most of my life. That was nothing I would ever admit to anyone, but it was true. It's something I had been thinking about since I was twelve, thought about in some way, shape, or form ever since, and had been putting my exit plan together when I came to the program.
The good news was that Save A Warrior knew what the solution to Complex PTS was, shared it with me, and then put me on a path of self-recovery.
I had a lot of work to do on myself.
It took me 50 years to get into the dysfunctional spiritual state I was in when I first crossed paths with Save A Warrior, and it would take me years of recovery to get out of it.
There were many 12 Step programs I would eventually go through, a lot of books to read, and a lot of meetings to attend. Rome wasn't built in a day.
Essentially, that is what I was doing in my recovery. I was rebuilding myself. Reinventing myself.
Did you know that anyone can reinvent themselves any time they choose?
I did not.
It took a lot of effort, but I now live a life that I thoroughly enjoy living. I had to absorb a lot of wisdom to recover myself.
One of the things I discovered in my recovery was that I wasn't terminally unique in anything.
There were a lot of people out there suffering from the exact same thing I had, Complex PTS. Not just veterans and first responders but everyone. Many civilians.
That's one of the side effects of recovering from Complex PTS. As I studied Complex PTS to recover myself, I noticed that many people around me had the exact same thing going on in their lives.
I was not terminally unique in anything I struggled with.
So many others, in fact, that from my vantage point, there seem to be only two types of people that I have met in life. It appears as though most have some degree of Complex PTS, and then there are those that are doing something about it.
As I have come to find out, Complex PTS is a spiritual sickness. When I started applying spiritual solutions to my Complex PTS, I recovered. I started enjoying my life for the very first time.
The more work that I did on my spirit and in my thinking, the more I enjoyed my life.
I needed wisdom, not a pill.
I find wisdom. I absorb it and examine it against my own personal life experience, and then if it works and I find value in it, I regurgitate it adding my own special flair to it.
That is what we all do.
"We are all beggars, trying to show other beggars where to find bread."
And this is my blog. I hope you find some value in it.
Copyright © 2023 Franco The Succulent - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.