{"id":32308,"date":"2023-09-25T20:20:15","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T00:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=32308"},"modified":"2023-09-25T20:31:46","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T00:31:46","slug":"monday-morning-moment-generational-trauma-and-an-early-morning-exercise-toward-flourishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=32308","title":{"rendered":"Monday Morning Moment – Generational Trauma and an Early Morning Exercise Toward Flourishing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo Credit: Medical News Today<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Early riser here. In fact, I rarely need an alarm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other seasons of life, the morning came with joy. For some time now, I have struggled with negative thoughts…not so much anxiety or depression as much as a certain sense of feeling undone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since reading Tyler Staton<\/a>\u2019s Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools<\/a><\/em>, my morning routine has changed some. No more mindless scrolling through various social media on my phone. It is no longer within reach. Once up, I make my bed. That lifelong routine continues. However, while still in bed, just barely awake, I now do two things to clear my head and set my heart for the day.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1)<\/strong> I recite the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13<\/a>). <\/strong>This is actually the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples when they asked him to teach them how to pray. Whether you have a relationship with Jesus or not, if you believe in God, this prayer is one you can embrace. A friend, younger than me, said to a small group of women recently in a study on prayer, “We should memorize the Lord’s Prayer”.<\/strong> It struck me as odd because, in my generation, we learned the Lord’s Prayer in school. Led by our teacher, we recited it as a whole class every day along with the Pledge of Allegiance<\/a>. Whatever our religion or lack thereof. Until 1962, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled school prayer (led by teachers) unconstitutional<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This prayer helps me to turn my thoughts to God and the creeping uneasiness changes more to hopefulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Credit: Lutheran Homeschool<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2) I recite Psalm 23.<\/strong> This psalm<\/a>, often referred to by its first line “The Lord is my Shepherd”<\/em>, was written by David, a shepherd himself before he became king. In meditating on this psalm, I’m reminded of God’s care of his sheep. No matter what happens, he keeps his eye on us. He provides for us, anticipating our every need, and welcomes us Home to be with Him at the end of our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Credit: ChristArt<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These two passages are easy to memorize and even easier to make part of a morning routine They have done wonders for my waking to a new day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what does this have to do with generational trauma?<\/strong> I’ve written often about this previously (and strongly recommend reading these pieces if you haven’t already). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday Morning Moment \u2013 Generational Sin and Trauma \u2013 Don\u2019t Trip Over What\u2019s Behind You <\/em>– Deb Mills<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday Morning Moment \u2013 Sins of the Fathers \u2013 Neglect and Abandonment \u2013 It Stops Here.<\/em> – Deb Mills<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday Morning Moment \u2013 Abuse \u2013 Where Does It Begin and How Do We Respond? <\/em>– Deb Mills<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Credit: Jennifer Nurick<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We have all experienced some sort of trauma through our families, across generations. Some (including in my own family) would rather not “go there”, and I understand. However, it is in recognizing our trauma and taking steps toward healing that helps us to avoid continuing the trauma in our children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As adults, we want the same things our children need \u2013 to be safe (no \u201cbracing for impact\u201d in relationships), to be seen (truly known by those most significant in our lives), to be soothed (our emotions understood and acknowledged, without judgment, even when they are big and out of proportion), and secure (that no matter what, we are loved. Our persons are NOT leaving the room).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever we may have experienced as children, we can alter our present. Whatever we did as young and overwhelmed parents, we can move, with love and insight, to a better situation with our kids. The past is just that\u2026the past. We can be truly with each other, in the here and now\u2026if we are brave and willing to be humble.<\/em>” – Deb Mills<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The major component of trauma in my own life was abandonment. I don’t know about my grandparents’ childhood, but from my grandparents’ adulthood through the present, my family has felt the sting of abandonment. It is generational and can not only affect us but our children as well. Abandonment is a very real source of trauma and can actually find its way back up the family tree, if we don’t do the work of rooting it out. [The longer stories are in my blogs above.] <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What better way to start each day praying to and meditating on a Father who will NEVER abandon his children!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Below you will find further resources on generational trauma and a helpful graphic on the power of showing up<\/em>.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>Photo Credit: Dr. Dan Siegel & Dr. Tina Payne Bryson<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Breaking the Chains of Generational Trauma: We Don’t Have to Pass Down Everything We Inherit<\/em> – Elizabeth Dixon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday Morning Moment \u2013 Righting Ourselves After Betrayal<\/em> – Deb Mills<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does trauma spill from one generation to the next? <\/em>– Rachel Zimmerman<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generational Trauma: Breaking the Cycle of Adverse Childhood Experiences<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jakob\u2019s Family: The Psychology of Generational Trauma<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Early riser here. In fact, I rarely need an alarm. In other seasons of life, the morning came with joy. For some time now, I have struggled with negative thoughts…not so much anxiety or depression as much as a certain sense of feeling undone. Since reading Tyler Staton\u2019s Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools, my … Continue reading Monday Morning Moment – Generational Trauma and an Early Morning Exercise Toward Flourishing<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10321,3346,5628,926,690,34,1705,1618,4343,3395,147,1436,3976,3208,5253,1454,50],"tags":[10386,9790,290,9617,10583,1459,1458,594,10584,2184,10418],"class_list":["post-32308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abuse","category-anger","category-anxiety","category-attending-or-focus","category-babies-children","category-books","category-conversations","category-courage","category-daughters-and-sons","category-disciplines","category-family-2","category-fathers","category-fear","category-finishing-strong","category-forgiveness","category-fresh-start","category-god","tag-abandonment","tag-daniel-siegel","tag-forgiveness","tag-generational-trauma","tag-lords-prayer","tag-monday-morning","tag-monday-morning-moment","tag-parenting-2","tag-praying-like-monks","tag-psalm-23","tag-tyler-staton"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pauPAB-8p6","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32308"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32333,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32308\/revisions\/32333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}