The Survivor's Pledge:
I will not be a victim.
I will rise above.
I will give back.
I will change the world.
From the new book entitled I Will Not Be Broken: Five Steps to Overcoming a Life Crisis, by Jerry White.
From the product description: "The loss of a loved one, a painful divorce, or a serious physical injury---we must all, at one point, face tragedy---unavoidable moments that divide our lives into “before” and “after.” How do we muscle our way through tough times and emerge stronger, wiser---even grateful for our struggle? In 1984, author Jerry White lost his leg---and almost his life---in a landmine accident. He has endured the pain of loss and the challenge of rebuilding. As cofounder of Survivors Corps, White has interviewed thousands of victims of tragedy. With this book, he shares what he has learned."
CJ, over at "A Soldier's Perspective" blog, has been raving about this book: He wants every general in the military to give a copy of this book "as a gift for EVERY Soldier injured in combat and to every family who has lost lost someone in Iraq or Afghanistan." He writes:
Having been to Walter Reed many times while I was stationed in the DC area, I can tell you that the way Soldiers deal with their life-changing events varies almost to the Soldier. It's safe to say that you can categorize those Soldiers into one of three groups: those who have accepted their fate and make the best of it, those that are trying to deal with it and may or may not seek help, and finally the victims.
He says:
Today, we have soldiers coming home by the thousands with wounds that are both physical and psychological. Even after the physical wounds have healed, soldiers must learn to deal with the emotional wounds still needing to be patched up. For many soldiers, feelings of embarrassment, inadequacy, and remorse overpower their lives as they attempt to deal with these issues alone.
In other words, it's not such a bad idea to get them thinking quickly about surviving.
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Last year around this time, I was down in the "OC" visiting a longtime friend who I hadn't seen in years. At a bookstore, I bought a copy of a book with a potentially intriguing title, "Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, And Why." One of the perils, I guess, of having dated someone who climbed Mt. Everest years ago is thinking I ought to find books with lots of material in them about mountaineering interesting (this one has that). However, it's sat on my shelf ever since then.
Quite honestly, Jerry Wright's book sounds much more interesting -- he positions his theme about not just surviving, but not being broken on the anvil of life as tragedy can do: in fact, getting up, succeeding, and giving back. Wow. If a book like this can motivate veterans to believe their life isn't over because they're suffering intensely from "things they don't understand how to fix" (combat trauma, and resultant PTSD) -- I hope it does get into the hands of veterans, if it can do some good. And it sounds like it really can, mostly from the motivational pespective. Great...
