Survival

People tell survival stories like they are stories about strength.

I understand why.

Strength is easier to talk about.

Strength sounds inspiring.

Strength makes people comfortable.

What people do not talk about enough is what survival costs.

Because every version of ourselves that survives something difficult leaves with something different than what they arrived with.

The version of me that survived carried me through the storm. The version of me that heals is teaching me I do not have to live there anymore.