How do you consider yourself as a survivor?

im a survivor of everyday tests , i consider myself a lucky one compared to people i used to know , that are now in jail for petty crimes , i guess my stragey was to never end up like that , dont let that become the story of my life cause im better than that and i know life has more in store than just a jail cell

I consider myself a survivor for several reasons. I survived a childhood with a father who liked to drink too much and too often, who told me regularly I'd never amount to anything and that he was embarrassed to be my father, who beat me up when I was in high school after I dared to stand up for myself when he came home in the wee hours after another night binging to blame me for the car breaking down while he was driving drunk. Yeah - I survived that, but not without scars. I then survived a marriage to a violent, abusive man who said if I ever laid a hand on him I'd better be sure to kill him because he'd kill me if I didn't, so yeah - I'm a survivor there as well and a few more scars to go with it. But, I also see it all as an education (one that I would never recommend, mind you) in learning who I am, what I'm capable of, how strong I really am compared to all the insults that were thrown my way. I am able to see things in others that people don't recognize that has helped me avoid problems (or anticipate problems that no one else expected). I am able to better judge what someone is going through when others say "why doesn't she just leave" or "she must like it, then" - I've been there, they haven't. I didn't used to understand either. It's hard to understand some things without the experience. How I view others has changed significantly because of my experiences. It may seem strange, but there is a part of me that is grateful even though I wish things had been different.

Yes I also think of myself as a survivor. Life has not always been good to me and yet I still love life. I have faced challenges and got myself out of bad situations. I have come through my own bad attitudes too and have now freed myself from negativity and taught myself to look forward and not to keep looking back.