Knut Braa, Author at Braa.net

Defending Putin’s methods by referring to something one is against?

“Consider this: how long do you believe you could exist before you were completely and unequivocally silenced? I’ve authored nine books addressing the abuse of power, often depicting Western military interventions as dubious and unsuccessful endeavors. Consequently, many individuals feel compelled to enlighten me about Putin and his regime’s purported righteousness. My inbox …

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How to overcome the pain in your life

Zen ish

(Or how to deceive pain and live happily ever after) My daughter is studying medicine. And like all proud fathers, I enjoy hearing and learning about what she is studying. Sometimes she sends me a PDF or an audio file that she thinks might be interesting. As an old soldier with a diagnosis called PTSD, I …

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Did we learn anything?

Life, Veteran

“the bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep.” A famous person, whose name I no longer remember, once said that the bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep. That’s how simple it can be said – and done. We spend 26 years of our lives sleeping. Now I …

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What is a lifetime, really?

Life, Zen ish

Twenty good years? A good friend of mine once said while walking in the mountains of Gran Canaria.“Knut, we have twenty good years left. Use them wisely »I was about 49 years old at the time and did not feel old at all. In fact, I was quite agile and answered her quickly:“You must give …

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You can get what you want – Or you can just get old

Life, Zen ish

Slow down you crazy childYou’re so ambitious for a juvenileBut then if you’re so smart tell me,Why are you still so afraid? – Billy Joel (The lyrics of the song Vienna from the album The Stranger, 1977) Sad weeks After some sad weeks with the loss of good people, the tragedy that …

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The thin film of civilization

Veteran

The thin film of civilization This picture are taken on Lesvos. Her husband and baby drowned on the way over from Turkey. This is a previously published blog which is unfortunately very topical these days. Forgive me for posting it again, just to remind us that we still allow this to happen today. And probably …

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How to loose a friend

Life, Lifeisgood

a friend you wished you had met earlier. “Only in the trenches during the artillery fire had I come so close to other people. Today’s blog is very personal. It will be about a man who is no longer with us, but who left solid imprints before he died. I do not …

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How to find the “flow”

Lifeisgood, Zen ish

Finding flow when you have PTSD Three years ago, I bought a van, a VW Crafter. The plan was to convert it into a campervan. I started the project in April and finished it in two and a half months. I had absolutely no precondition for building anything. I used youtube and learned everything I …

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How to be brave, and what is courage?

Zen ish

Exposing oneself to discomfort, pushing the boundaries, going beyond the comfort zone are all expressions of showing courage, of being brave. But what is courage, what does it mean to be brave? It is true what is said that courage is to expect discomfort in exchange for a great personal benefit. Things you do that …

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How to protect yourself from your PTSD, when the world is on fire

Veteran

(It is war. And it is mine. ) The headlines that meet me today are about the war in Ukraine. Alarms going off, people fleeing, soldiers killed (on both sides of the front lines), an increasingly harsh exchange of views from the parties involved. The pictures I see are of dead people, destroyed cities, scared …

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