YOU Can Do Hard

Me. Not crying. LOL!

Probably THE Number One Question people ask me about my experience on Survivor is this:

Would you do it again?

This used to strike me as a funny question.

Why, you ask? 

Well ...

--I've played the game twice (which is pretty rare--less than 11% of the players have played two times).

--My first time playing I had an AWESOME experience and won immunity for my tribe once (weight-bearing) and once for myself.

--My second time playing, I lasted all 39 days, played with my dearest island friend (Cochran), and earned a cash award at the end. 

"How could I ask for more? I've been so fortunate," I would often reply.

But after talking with literally hundreds of people about this very subject, I realize what people are really asking is this:

--Was it worth it?

--Did Survivor/the game HURT you?

--Was it so horrible that the costs outweigh the benefits?

Now if you watch Survivor, those are fair questions. 

I mean, we literally starve out there (by First World standards). We are lonely. We are deprived of all basic needs (housing, clean water, food, healthy relationships, clean clothing, etc.). And some of us experience extremely painful exchanges out there (Brandon with his breakdown, Erik exiting the game near Day 39 as a result of the starvation, me losing my teeth/causing Brenda such pain/enduring extreme criticism at Final Tribal, etc.).

It's an insanely unusual and difficult life experience for the players. (Again, I want to emphasize that my belief is many people on Planet E experience MUCH harder things than Survivor. But in contrast to the life most Survivor players live, the game is incredibly difficult.)

(PS: Even though players know there's an end to our "suffering"--that it's going to end eventually--ALL of us get into a zone where the "real world" no longer exists for us out there. The game becomes our whole world and our whole reality. Researchers should study the psychology of the game--because in my experience, the game becomes somewhat like a refugee experience for many of us. It's intense and takes months to rebound from.)

But my point!

Was my experience on Survivor "worth it"?

For me, yes.

The life lessons that came as a result of my version of "suffering" have been so insanely valuable.

--I feel like I learned extreme humility by playing Survivor.

--I feel like I learned about extreme hunger.

--I feel like I learned extreme about loneliness.

--And I learned that everyone has a reserve--a will to live--inside of them that is UNREAL.

We are each so strong.

You and I are so much stronger than we realize day-to-day. 

Real-life just doesn't challenge most of us in a way that helps us stretch and grow very much.

Granted, Survivor provides accelerated and dramatic (and at times unhealthy), challenges for its players, but nearly everyone rises to the occasion.

I'm so grateful to have been challenged on literally every level--spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, physically--by the game of Survivor.

I now look at my life--your life--and our potential entirely differently than I did Pre-Survivor.

Truly, anything is possible.

You can endure all things.

You were built to do hard things.

Not just when a million dollars is on the line, but when LIFE is on the line. (Because really, players stop thinking about the money at a certain point--once we start building a community and starving out there on the island.)

So boom!

Get out there, push yourself and be grateful.

Life is good. Hard at times, but good.

Our dog Harriet--who misses her companion, Elder Meehan.
He's been out on his church service mission for 40 days now!

 ****

Kids swimming with Dave this weekend.
(PS: Just to keep it real, I'm on the sidelines because I literally DO NOT fit in my swimsuit. Eating through the summer = extra lbs on thighs. Time to cutback on sweets, Dawn.)

Race-time.