David Pendlum says: "It is actually quite difficult to lay out any given step-by-step process of how I overcame what I like to call 'victimitis.' The nearest I can come to a 'step-by-step' process is by analogy, the grieving/recovery process one goes through in losing a loved one. The process actually began at a very early age, and it took a few decades of life to truly make headway in moving from 'victim' to 'survivor.' So, if I ramble in what follows, please forgive me...."

Gloria Nash writes: In July of 2002 you published my story on your website. I continue to receive positive feedback from individuals all over the country with regard to understanding resilience. So much has happend to me in the past couple of years. I can't really say that I have achieved all of my dreams yet, but I have made enormous leaps of growth in healing my mental and emotional attitudes. Read her updated story.

Rhona. Johnson shows directly how some of the principles in The Survivor Personality relate to everyday life and hopes her story will help others in their own journey to find contentment and peace of mind.

Meredith Murray experienced near-fatal car accident in 1995 and her life was changed forever. She thinks of her experience as a metamorphosis, like that of a caterpillar into a butterfly with her transformation taking five stages: the Egg, the Caterpillar, the Cocoon, Emerging From the Chrysalis, and the Butterfly.

Within a four-year period, twelve of Joanne Hill's family members died, beginning with husband and ending with her son. During that time, Joanne was frequently asked, "How do you get through it?" As she pondered the question, she discovered that the rough times she'd been through in the past had given her seven remedies for surviving the stormy times and finding the rainbows.

Gloria Nash, like many of us, has faced her ups and downs in life. Read how she overcame her own victim-thinking to create a life full of helping others.

When people are hit with an extreme, life-disrupting loss they will never be the same again. They will feel either wounded and bitter, or strengthened and better. Larry Newman's way of appreciating the benefits he gained from losing everything he owned in a fire shows how a resilient person can convert misfortune into good fortune. Here is how Larry describes a good/bad event in his life.

Cynthia Dailey-Hewkin's story validates what can happen when a person does not react like a victim during a major corporate layoff and chooses, instead, to find ways to be helpful to others. She shares practical advice for anyone facing a layoff.

Marshall L. Lightner writes: "Each of us has a story where resilience plays an important role. Some people have life experiences that require more resilience than others. My life, like most others, has required the development of some resilience. I will give you the essential details."

Marcia Keith is a college administrator and president of her professional association. She writes this autobiographical account of what she found good in something often perceived as bad.