I like survivors.  Not necessarily live survivors, just survivors in general.  I like people who have some scars, who have been through hard times and come out on the other side.  For one thing, they give me hope, they help me believe that pushing through the pain is worth it. For another thing they help me feel not alone. I am not the only one.  I like people with cracks, people who have a story to tell and are honest with it. They are the most interesting people. Dress yourself up, smooth yourself over, hide your cracks, and you take away the very thing that makes you human, that makes you connected.  

Sometimes surviving is big,  We lose a loved one, a marriage fails, a job falls apart, illness appears. You name your own big one. A pet dies, a home is lost, the list goes on.  And somehow we survive.  The big survivals take enormous effort but we get a lot of support around those.  Friends rally, family is there.  There is an outpouring of help. So we make it through. We survive.

But what about the small survivals, the daily survivals?  How somehow we paid the bills this month.  How the car got fixed, a broken arm was healed.  A friendship lost and found again. Words that wounded and were forgiven. A lost love, a betrayal. Those small survivals they are the test of character.  Do we have what it takes to move past the roadblocks and bumps in our lives day after day? Can we still rise in the morning knowing that today could be the magical day, the blessed day?  Each day is our own opportunity for joy and love. Can we search for those ideals in the midst of our survivals?  Yes when we are the Survivors.  

And that is why I love the Survivors, you show me the way.  I know I am not alone.  I get it that life is not perfect. I have cracks all over me.  I fill them with love. And I see you, with all your cracks, with all your bruises. I see the pain in your eyes replaced by joy when you look upon your loves and I am uplifted. I am inspired. I don’t care if you are on the street, a CEO, or my best friend. If you show me that you have taken those blows and still search for joy and love then you are my inspiration. 

Here is to the Survivors, may we know them, may we love them, may we be them.