Reading Time: 4 minutes I hear stories every day about people surviving hard places. Once in a blue moon, I hear a story of someone even surviving being kidnapped. Good people, kind people, people who are strong, graceful, resourceful. People who have yet to discover the full spectrum of their own unique gifts, talents, and coping mechanisms. All sorts of people survive accidents, addictions, diseases, bankruptcy, divorce, loss of income, loss of loved ones, and all manner of devastating circumstances. It is easy to be amazed at the sheer tenacity of the human spirit that allows us to walk through a hard place and come out on the other side, triumphant. And yet, we don’t have to let these hard places define us.

Whatever “story” we are telling about ourselves will continually play itself out in our experience.