Do you ever wonder why your life turned out the way it has?  Do you think about what it would have been like had just one aspect been different?

I am a result of not only my history but also my response to that history.  What makes me tick, and what makes me sometimes explode or implode, are the consequences of events and circumstances in my life and how I chose to accept or reject the results.

Am I a successful person?  That depends on your definition of success.  Dictionary.com says that success is the accomplishment of one’s goals, the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or a performance or achievement that is marked by success (I dislike when a word is used in its own definition – it feels like cheating).  By those definitions, I am not.  Fannie Flagg had this to say:  “Being a successful person is not necessarily defined by what you have achieved, but by what you have overcome.”  By that definition, I am.

You cannot be an overcomer without something to overcome, and that means hardship of some form.  A few things I have overcome (or continue to overcome daily):

• Abuse – physical, verbal, emotional, sexual, neglect
• Rape and molestation
• Homelessness
• Failed marriages and relationships
• Depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Self-loathing and suicidal thoughts
• Physical illness and difficulties

I hope you don’t take this as bragging, because it most definitely is not.  Since everything that happens to you is a part of who you become, it sometimes becomes necessary to share with others in order to make yourself understood.

I like to think that I am a better person than I used to be, not because of my experiences but in spite of them.

As Kelly Clarkson said, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” and my survival rate thus far is 100%.  Let’s see where it goes from here.