Always a fighter, never a victim.

Life wasn't meant for us to breeze through without struggles or without trials, life was meant to grow and to learn from the things we can not change. And if there's one thing I've learned, and am continuing to learn, it's that we need to learn to be fighters and not victims.

Now don't get me wrong, I've played the victim violin and I've extended the self-pity card far beyond its allotted stretch but at some point it gets old. Feeling bad for yourself and continuously reminding yourself of the wrong that has happened in your life only breeds victims, not fighters.

For a long time, I wanted to sit in my self-pity and feel every ounce of pain that I could, because I thought that's what it meant to be a fighter, to suffer in the pain. But I was wrong, that's letting yourself fall victim to the things that have hurt you. That’s letting the bad stuff win. That's not being a fighter.

Being a fighter is accepting the things you cannot change. Being a fighter is being willing to get up one last time when you've been knocked down time and time again. Being a fighter is learning to continue to love with all you have despite the things that have happened to you. Being a fighter is learning to continue to give life all that you can when you feel like you have nothing left to give. And being a fighter means not falling victim to the pain.

Fighting will never be easy. I know just how easy it is to give up and just settle for the things that have been handed to you, but it's when you fight for more than you are given that you find your strength.

And don't get me wrong, strength can come from pain and going through things that are tougher than you ever imagined. Being a fighter doesn't mean that you are not shaken by the things in your past, and being a fighter doesn't mean that the tears don't come in waves and leaves you feeling empty and wiped out. But being a fighter means you let yourself feel those things and you let yourself grieve and then you pick yourself back up.

The greatest strength we will ever find is when we learn to fight. It's when we learn to keep our head high and our faith higher that we learn that everyone, every day, is facing a battle. And it's up to us to decide whether we want to be a fighter or a victim in that battle.

Remember,

You are more than the bad things that happen to you, you are the grace that follows.