In a traumatic event, we have two options: We can either crumble under the stress and devastation of what is happening, or we can choose to overcome and recreate a life that we are proud to call our own.
In his new book Supersurvivors, psychologist and author Lee Daniel Kravetz profiles a variety of people who have chosen the latter route. He joined HuffPost Live host Caitlyn Becker to discuss what makes a person a “supersurvivor,” and how persevering through the worst of traumas can lead to a person’s greatest success in life.
“Surviving anything is to be admired, and it’s not a small thing,” Kravetz said. “A supersurvivor is somebody who made the choice to dramatically change his or her life after surviving a traumatic event.“
To explore this concept further, Kravetz told the story of a woman named Asha Mevlana, whom he credits as the story that launched 1,000 stories for his work.
“When we met her, she was a cancer survivor,” he said. "She was a young woman who had just graduated from college, moved to New York, and had a great job at a startup until the unthinkable happened. ... But she told us early on that for her, the hardest part was not the actual treatment. ... It was the moment after she had come out of her traumatic experience. It was the moment where she realized she couldn’t go back to living her life the way it had been before.”
Mevlana chose to leave her job and old life, and began taking improvisational violin lessons -- something she had always wanted to do. After discovering this new talent, she moved to Los Angeles to see what could become of it.
“Within one year of moving to LA, she got a contract with Universal Records,” said Kravetz. “She was playing with CeeLo Green, with Jay-Z, with Mary J Blige. She was on the American Idol band, The Tonight Show band, and traveling all over the world essentially with this new life she chose for herself.”
To hear more of Kravetz’s supersurvivor stories, watch the full HuffPost Live clip in the video above.