“It's called survival and only the strong can survive, It's called survival in order to stay alive.”
Grandmaster Flash wasn’t talking about comfort, luxury or convenience. They were talking about making it through another day when life wasn’t interested in making things easy.
Most people spend part of their lives surviving.
Surviving layoffs, breakups, funerals, doctor appointments, empty bank accounts, sleepless nights, and phone calls we never wanted to receive.
We survive raising children without an instruction manual and watching our parents grow old.
We survive becoming the age we once thought was ancient.
Survival never is celebrated. People cheer victories, applaud championships and admire the success stories.
Before every victory came a season of survival. Before the harvest came the drought. Before the sunrise came the darkness. Before the comeback came the stubborn refusal to quit.
In the grabber section on today’s chalkboard is the Latin phrase “frusta ut ubera tauri.” Many Catholic school kids have heard it during the survival years of catechism. It means as useful as tits on a bull.
Life is full of things like that. Grudges can be that way. Excuses can be that way. Worrying about things we cannot control can be that way.
So can spending too much time trying to impress people who have already made up their minds about us.
The trick isn’t collecting more baggage. The trick is figuring out what is useful and what belongs at the curb on garbage day.
This Saturday morning, maybe the goal isn’t greatness. Maybe the goal is simply to keep moving forward.
To show up.
To do the work.
To say a prayer.
To make the coffee.
To call someone you love.
… and if that’s all you accomplish today, don’t dismiss it.
Sometimes what looks ordinary from the outside is actually survival.
… and survival is how every good story stays alive long enough to reach the next chapter.
Gusto, astonishment and JumboLove
