Survivors are Champions!

Over the years I have dealt with a lot of different things.  Not all good and not all bad either.  I use to say that many of the bad things that can happen to a person, I personally have experienced.  I know that is not true, still, I have had what feels like more than my fair share of crap to deal with and overcome.  Don't we all kinda feel like that sometimes?
I have been called *victim* far too many times.  I am not just referring to childhood, teen and adult rape.  I have been the victim of stalkers in my personal life and online.  Mickey and I have had all of our bank accounts hacked.  I have had friends pass away from murder and suicide.  I have been robbed and burglarized.  I have been held at knife point and have had the shit beat out of me.  I have died and been brought back to life.  I could go on and on, but this is not my point.
Being called a victim irritates the hell out of me!  Yes, I was. WAS.  Now, I am not.  I am a Survivor!  Survivors are Champions.  That is my opinion, any way.  Of course there are different degrees (for lack of a better word) of survival.  Some come through horrible things with little more left other than being alive.  That is still survival.  Some are so shattered that for years they may not be more than a shadow of who they were prior to the incident.  Some are forever changed.
I don't believe that any of us get through this life without facing tragedy of some sort or becoming a victim to something or someone.  I don't know what makes one person come out stronger and another come out practically destroyed.  I also don't know why the road to recovery can take months, years and decades for different people.  And, for some, recovery isn't even in the picture.  What I do know is that victimization and survival is very very personal.  As people we have learned a lot of things about how the mind works.  There are millions of self help books to be had, or thrown out ;p  We can encourage one another, but, need to understand that there is no blue-print to healing.  There is no set timetable that happens so that if you follow A-B-C, then D brings wellness.
As a Survivor, I know what has and has not worked for me in the past.  Arming myself became very important to me when I was the victim of a stalker.  I carried a weapon on me at all times.  Slept with weapons around me.  When it happened again to me online, I armed myself again.  This time by become a hacker.  It is very satisfying to make a phone call to a person who thought they were anonymous on the *web* and tell them their real name, their address and tell them that I was the one that was controlling their computer at that moment.  It is also very satisfying to have that stalking end immediately.  Taking back my power, helped my healing process.
Survivors are champions.  Each day we wake up and face another day is a win.  A Survivor of violent crime has so much courage and we use it daily just to leave our home.  Next time you catch yourself about to call someone a victim, take a moment to see if maybe you should be calling them a Champion instead.