I have a few things that I want to get to today. But before I do that, I want to take a moment to talk to you about what it means to be a survivor. Let’s start by acknowledging a very real thing – life can be extremely challenging when we least expect it. Sometimes, those challenges can occur at the least convenient time in our lives. Sometimes, when they happen, they can last for a very long time (longer than some of us would’ve liked). But that’s just life. Over the last few years, I have found myself doing all I could to survive one challenge after another. There had been brief moments of reprieve, but they never really last very long. In my opinion, I think they were there long enough so I could catch my breath (the same way a swimmer needs to come to the surface to catch a breath before continuing). After nearly a decade of ups and downs, I’m glad to say that I’m finally on the UP again. The last time that I experienced this level of breakthrough was exactly 10 years ago when I began my journey of pursuing my passion. I started this journey because I believed that we were all meant for something in this life. And I owed it to myself to try and discover what that purpose it. Today, my “ikigai” is found in the work that I get to do as a front-end and UX specialist. Now that I’ve survived everything that life has thrown at me for the past decade, I know I can survive just about anything that life might throw at me next. For now though, I am determined to make the most of my next major breakthrough.