When we experience difficult times in our lives, it’s gratifying to know something about our adversity goes on to help others. That’s what I’m hearing from the listeners of an amazing podcast I did. My story, told in my own voice, is the opener for Season 15 of the popular This is Actually Happening, and I’m hearing from women, and men, who tell me they were inspired by my story.
“We’re stronger than we can possibly imagine, and we need to tap into that with every fiber of our being.”
If you’ve never listened to the incredible This is Actually Happening podcast on the Wondery Network, it features true life stories, told by the actual people who lived them, and there’s nothing more powerful than hearing it from the person themself. The process of recording my story happened over the course of several days and took at least six or seven hours to record. My voice is the only one you’ll hear, but podcast creator, producer, and host, Whit Missildine, and his production team, took all of that audio and pieced it together into a podcast that’s only an hour in length.
“Part of surviving is making sure we fight to keep ourselves from becoming another victim.”
I just received an email from Whit Missildine, telling me that even though the episode has only been online for three days, it “has been widely beloved by listeners, and the response has been amazing… Your deep wisdom is incredibly inspiring, especially at a time when we are all being challenged to find our own voice in the face of an uncertain world.”
For a story I kept secret from everyone except a handful of people who were there at the time, my book, MAYA BLUE A Memoir of Survival, and now, the This is Actually Happening podcast continues to reinforce that I did the right thing by sharing it and making it public.
“Survivorship often means being terrified, absolutely terrified, as you force yourself to take the next step. It may be a step that’s so far outside your comfort zone that you can’t imagine doing it. Like one moment the window is closed and the next, you’ve jumped, hoping the tree outside will break your fall. But there’s no guarantee, but you do it anyway because it’s better than the alternative. Sometimes that is survivorship.”
Many times, the unexpected strength within us doesn’t rise to the surface until we’re confronted with a life-threatening situation, or we need to step up and help someone we love, or even a stranger. But when it’s behind us, we realize we did something we didn’t think we could do, and it’s okay to tell ourselves, I did that. I Did That! And when that happens, we should be proud of ourselves because regardless of how difficult it was, we’re stronger for having done it.
I hope you’ll listen to my story. It’s episode #375, on the This is Actually Happening podcast. Scroll down the page, and it’s the first story listed: “What if you had to fight your way out of the jungle?”
I hope my story helps you realize you can survive almost anything.
