Wednesday, October 23, 2013

FROM "I WILL SURVIVE" TO "I WILL THRIVE!"

Who doesn't know Gloria Gaynor's "I will Survive" infamous anthem?  Ironically the hit song was released in October of 1978, 35 years ago! Yet it is a song that lives on and continues to played on the airwaves.  It is as  if on cue, that the minute the song begins to play, women jump out of their seats, storm the dance floor and begin raising their hands in the air as they shout the words to the song.  I am one of those women, and as I woke up this morning, just the thought of the song made me smile and jump out of bed.

The song of course is about a devastating break up and the lyrics take you across the singer's plight from fearful and feeling sorry for herself to her ultimate declaration that she will survive.  She takes personal inventory of herself, realizes who she is, how much she has to offer, and commands her jerk of a love to go marching out the door.  It's truly a great song, and I think that almost every woman can relate to a time in her life when she went through the same thing. 

As I relate this song to divorce, the theme is essentially the same.  Yes, you will survive.  In the context of moving on, the focus of course is not to find someone new to love, but to find love for yourself, pick up the pieces of your seemingly broken life, and re-build.  I invite you to look in the mirror and see that "somebody new;" to take stock of all your wonderful qualities and abilities, and to focus on writing a new story for yourself.

Of course you will survive.  The definition of the word "survive" is to continue to live or exist.  Compare that to the definition of the word "thrive" which is to prosper, grow vigorously or flourish.  So the next time you hear Gloria's song, I hope you will join me in shouting, or at the very least thinking, "I will thrive!"

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