What Do Survivors Look Like?

Survivors of catastrophic events can choose to see their circumstances as an opportunity to reinvent themselves.  When the only alternative is to remain a broken human being, it becomes obvious that we must go forward.

The tricky part is how to get from here to there.  Over the next few weeks our goal is to prepare ourselves to go home to Missoula and to map our way forward into the next part of our lives.  Other people have survived and so we know it can be done.  It would be a bonus if, as we chart our own course, we could mark the path for someone else.

Here’s what our blog readers say about being a survivor:

In the short term:

•  Survivors re-establish a normal pattern of activity and rest. 
• Survivors pause to replenish the inner resources that have been used up: patience, optimism, energy, creativity, and humor.
• Survivors stay in the game.
• Survivors give themselves a break.
• Survivors deal with crisis first, emotions second.
• Survivors know that showing up is 80% of the job.  And they show up day after day.

In the long term:

• Survivors set goals and make plans for the future.
• Survivors are in charge of themselves.
• Survivors maintain connections with other people.
• Survivors are comfortable with the paradox of danger/opportunity.
•  Survivors feel challenged, not threatened.
• Survivors have complex and sometimes contrary feelings at the same time.  They are both selfish and unselfish.
• Survivors don’t see themselves as victims.
• Survivors learn from their experiences.
• Survivors don’t waste time asking “why is this happening?” but they do ask “what needs to be done now?”
• Survivors are intuitive.
• Survivors see a bad situation as an opportunity to emerge as a better person.
• Survivors see the in good every situation, especially in the challenging ones.
• Survivors outwit and outlast.
• Survivors have a reason to carry on: love, connection, and the need to help someone else.
• Survivors accept life as it is, and are willing to work to make it better.

Thanks all, for your contributions.  Now that we know what a survivor looks like, Roger and I know what we must become.

--Candi