"All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming." -- Helen Keller
We've all suffered, some a great deal more than others. Suffering is unavoidable. The question is whether or not we will overcome suffering to live. Living is more than merely surviving: heart still beating, blood still pumping, breath still blowing, but that's all. Surviving is like lying in a coma, everyone around you laughing but you don't know how to join in, you don't know how to smile. You've been battered and beaten and, worst of all, you've lost hope that life will ever be any better.
Challenging though it is to overcome suffering, many people have experienced pains I can't possibly imagine, yet overcome them to live -- not merely survive -- but actually live so brilliantly and brightly that they inspire us all. When I meet or read about such people I feel once again awed by the power and beauty of the human spirit.
People who overcome great suffering and great odds hold us all in their hearts. They show us what's possible. They remind us that, when we want to give up hope, we don't have to. They inspire us to keep going and not stop until we've fulfilled every single dream we have in our hearts.