I survived

I saw something this morning this is very true...  It said 'Someone once asked me how I hold my head up so high after all I've been through. I said, it's because no matter what, I'm a survivor.  Not a victim.'  I have found on more than one occasion that I have become a victim of a situation, but through each one I have found a new strength, a new faith.  I have learned who my true friends are and those who I could let go of.  Bottom line - I survived....

I survived being raped by someone I had known since I was a kid, someone I had worked with and our families had spent time together.  It was tough, I spent more days crying than anything else, sleep was hard to come by, but I didn't want to get out of bed.  But I survived and I stood my ground by facing him in court.

I survived being beat up by someone I was dating, someone I cared for, someone I thought cared for me, someone who ended up sending me to the ER.  Then because I had scratched him once in the whole situation when he had me pinned down by my throat and was blacking out - he called the cops on me.  I was taken straight from the hospital, arm in a sling and all, to jail.  The judge ended up dismissing my charges.  But I survived and I became a stronger person for it... 

I survived two deployments - granted day to day tasks are sometimes a challenge, I struggle with back pain, with speech and memory issues due to a TBI and being oversensitive to noise and overcautious when I go places due to PTSD.  But each day I get up and face the new day that has been given to me... another day with my husband and my son, another day to share my story and hope that it may help someone. 

Life isn't always going to be easy - in fact, most days it's probably going to be more difficult than we probably planned, but the bottom line - it's not our plan.  We have an opportunity to make the most of each day given to us.  I have survived those past days and although those will always be a part of who I am, they will not control who I can be.