Dulcinea, I LOVE your screen name. The song from "Man of La Mancha" is SO beautiful. ^.^ As to the quote and your situation... I think a lot of other survival stories are much easier to relate to that quote than being raped. Were I in your place, I'd probably regard what happened to me as senseless, wholly unfair (huge understatement, that), and cruel beyond all reason, if you'll allow me to presume. How that can help you to grow as a person and enter each day with more strength than before I can't see... but that's why it's up to YOU and you alone to figure that out. Don't try and force yourself to understand the quote and how it fits to your life--the understanding will come to you one day. Just give yourself time. And who knows, maybe someday you'll be able to help someone else through an unbearable situation because of where you've been through!

And stologirl, I couldn't agree more. Sometimes it's incredibly easy to lose sight of that, especially when things start to go downhill. But had I not been where I've been and survived what I have... well, I might just be involved in worse situations today, and that would NOT be a good thing.

let's keep surviving, okay?
~muse