Surviving

 I've been thinking of the word "survivor" recently. When it comes to surviving a traumatic experience, I don't think that means just the actual occurrence, but the boatload of things that come after.
I am probably confusing you, but think of it like this. A survivor of rape, it's not only the rape s/he survived, its also the depression, the fear, paranoia, the rejection afterwards.
Being a survivor means so much more, it means you've gone through so much, despite the dice not being rolled in your favor.
That's what survivor means to me.