The First Month: Fighting to Stay Positive & Motivated

It's been a long month.  I have had to get used to things I never wanted to have to get used to again.  The house is empty for at least half the week.  I never realized how much it scares me to be alone and the nights when I don't have my daughter  have been the hardest.  I can count on one hand how many times I have seen my wife since she moved out and every time I see her, I feel like I have lead in my stomach.  It hurts my heart to see her so distant, and closed off from me.  Yes, we're on the same page when it comes to  parenting, but I fear that the hurt I caused her when I was depressed is too much to overcome.

I wish that there was something that I could do to help her see that I love her beyond words and that I have stayed strong through all of this.  I haven't disappeared back down the rabbit hole.  I'm still working out and still going to MMA.  Work continues to be a revelation.

So, what to do?  Where do I go from here?  The only thing I can think to do is just stay steady and continue to do what I have been doing - Living my life as best I can for me so that I can find fulfillment.  So I'm going to keep on making the most of my workouts, MMA, and work.  The biggest thing is keeping busy, especially as the major holidays approach.  There's always the temptation to stay in and not go out at all.  I swore that I would never go down that road again.  It's the first time in my life where I have been thankful for hypervigilance.  I've been able to repurpose it to help me keep from going down that road ever again.

I have been afraid to sit down at the computer to write any of this because is makes it real...Does that make sense?  Acknowledging my new reality is one of the hardest things that I have ever had to do.  It's one of the reasons that I haven't been blogging that past few weeks.  I had to come to terms with how things are and fight my fear and the anger.

It took a while...

But I'm getting there.  Bit. By. Bit.

And I'll keep on fighting to make the most of my life for as long as it takes and as long as I live.  I never really thought that Post Traumatic Growth was really a thing.  When I was in the throes of my PTSD, it seemed unattainable.  I don't think that it's the bright, shiny future that they make it out to be in the press, but I do believe it's real.  So, no matter how things turn out, I'm going to learn to be happy - with someone or by myself.

But that's a subject for another post...and one I'm working on writing as we speak.