We are all survivors. We have all made it through some really hard times and we fought, even when we were down, and we have moved on with our lives. Through our perils we have become better people and we have learned a lot about ourselves.

The key to being a survivor is to never give up. Fight, fight, and when you think that you are done you need to get back up and fight some more. It isn't always the biggest person who wins the fight but the one with more heart and the scrappier fighter.

What have we survived through? Most of us have survived break-ups, divorce, property separation, lying ex's, and all kinds of other storms. I am sure that we have survived other things.

Back in 2005 I had a heart attack. I was 28 year old at the time (genetics are a bitch). By the time this was done I was up to 260 pounds, depressed, and doing "okay" but still had slight issues.

In 2007 I was working on a farm pushing a dead tree out of a path with a tractor. The tree sprung over the loader and landed on my arm. There I was, all by myself, 1.5 miles into the woods. I called my stbx (wife at the time) and told her to meet me at the barn. I drove the tractor out of the woods, after setting my arm and this was a nasty fracture where both bones in my forearm had broken in half and it was right at the skin.

Today I am in very good shape. I have lost 40 pounds in the last year, I went down to a size 42 to a size 38 (I am just about into a 36). I swim over a mile at a time 3-5 times a week and I ran 2 miles in 18 minutes.

Through mental toughness, willpower, and a will to survive I have battled back through all these things to be a survivor.

Tell your story of survival here!