Are you a survivor, or did you merely continue to exist?

The reality TV show’s motto is, “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast” — it requires that the contestants not simply “stick around”, but to engage themselves within the challenges, to constantly modify and adjust their strategies, and to rise above the struggles of the situations they are placed in. It is an active role that they must apply themselves to in order to come out on top.

This is not unlike real-life challenges.

“He is a survivor.” Is he? Or did he merely not die? Is he now a shell of a human, emotionally and psychologically wreaked by the experience, a stripped out hull that, while he did indeed manage to live past the experience, he essentially died within? You see, because survival requires so much more than simply plowing through to the other side of a barrier.

The root, “survive”, comes from the Latin super “over, beyond” and vivere “to live”. If you notice, it does not say “lived through” something, nor “lived around” something…but lived over something. I think that’s a very important distinction.

I think of the many survivors I know in my life, not only concerned with diseases, but with other challenges, from day-to-day struggles with jobs, money, life, and relationships to those huge events of disease, injury, disasters, and family crisis. The ones that really shine and deserve the title, “survivor”, are those that do not simply make it through the ordeal but learn, grow, adapt, and not only beat the situation but give it a thorough whipping.

This is not to say that all survivors come through unscathed; indeed, part of the process of becoming a survivor is to become maimed, hurt, beat down, and flayed open. At these times, we see what they are made from as they change their strategy, learn new things, evolve, and climb back up the shaky ladder once more. They may fall back down again and again, maybe even getting hurt worse each time, but the will to keep fighting to emerge pulls them onward. The light may get dim, it might even become so dim you can hardly see it — but they come back from the brink to succeed once again. Survivors are
admired
for the
quality of their
struggling, not
their shiny trophy
at the end.Survivors are admired for the quality of their struggling, not their shiny trophy at the end.

The urge to survive is deeply embedded into the human psyche. It has, in fact, been essential to our existence to persevere. Lying down in a ditch and wallowing forever has never been a tactic that results in an improved species. Likewise, those that are now successful, wealthy, well-adjusted, and socially nimble have become so through surviving above and beyond their fellow humans. This carries onwards from the simple berry-gathering and buffalo-hunting of years past to the new challenges everyone faces in this modern world. The mountains to climb have changed names and shapes, but everyone still has to scale sheer faces to get to the top.

I’d like to posit that survivors are not necessarily those that manage to avoid death. Even when dying people can be survivors, fighting the stacked odds, listening to the ticking of the clock slowing and yet not succumbing to its incessant chimes. I do not view the terminal survivor as the person who fights death to the bitter end; rather, this sort of victor is the one who faces the inevitable — not with fear and shaking, but with a firm resolution, a drive to make the most of what is left, to love those close to them, make amends where necessary, and use the opportunity to teach, inspire, and motivate others in their own lives. A survivor of this kind lasts long after they are gone, continuing to affect the people that knew them and sometimes ones that never had the opportunity. They are the ones that come to mind often, bring a smile to your face, and give you hope for something better when the odds are against you.

To those who are survivors now and in the future — good luck. You’ll make it, you’ll succeed, and you’ll be better than before. Remember all those who have been survivors before you and around you.

Outwit the challenges, Outplay the games, Outlast the fear.

Be a Survivor.

Author’s Note: This entry is the first round in a Blog-Off run by Courtney Slavin of Five Second Dance Party. Each week we have to write a blog entry centred around one word. This weeks’ word is, “survivor”. To read the blog entries of others that are participating, head on over to The List. The proceeds of this Blog-Off go to support breast cancer research and prevention. Being a big fan of them myself, this is a pretty darn good cause.