Sure enough, the world spun around the sun just beautifully before we were born. Seasons changed, people died, mothers birthed babies, and all the while, the tide rolled in, and then obligingly returned back out to sea.

I guess this could be called the recipe for time. Of course, we tweak it to our own story. As for myself, sweet, not spicy, suits me just fine. I guess I used all my spiciness as fuel, while I fought my way out of a cocoon bound far too tightly.

Abusers do that to us.

They know that we are a threat to them, because we are capable of emerging from their chainmail-spun incarceration, and evolving with such promise. In the worst case scenario we could even surpass them, and that would devastate them on so many levels. We are supposed to stay at the bottom-most level, yet they cannot step below the top. They walk on water. They walk over whomever they want, including us...until WE...WALK AWAY!

You and I, we were the unexpected outcome. We were that Burpee Seed packet with an expiration date of 1997, that fell behind the potting table. We were those spunky seeds that made a grand getaway from the eroded envelope, drifted to a nearby dirt destination, and thrived and bloomed- against all odds!

We are unstoppable! WHO KNEW? We are like weeds with determination, focus, and survival skills that rival none! We are the unexpected outcome that was supposed to amount to nothing. We were the inconvenient obstacle that refused to be hushed, hidden or squashed! We are the unexpected outcome that emerged from that which bound us, with the most glorious wings in all creation. These wings carry us to places where we can make the most difference. That's how we are made.

Even when our wings feel tired and broken, we find ourselves where we are meant to be...supposed to be. You must understand that the term "unexpected" implies another option. We WERE that OTHER option! We were born with the instinct to float from the bottom to find surface air to breathe. Here's the very best part: we are never alone. Oh, NO! En route to our sweet survival, we gather all the other unexpected outcomes along the way. That's what we do.

Survival means nothing if we survived by walking over the ones who didn't survive, as though they are simply stones beneath the soles of our feet. They and we are kindred souls, sparked to life from the very moment that first match was struck. We are the lighthouse perched on the cliff, illuminating even the darkest of moonless nights. Tall waves threaten to topple us, sea spray mercilessly spits and splatters salty hatred upon us, but we carry on. It's all we've ever known how to do. At times our light might flicker, but it will ever be extinguished. We will ensure it never gets so dark that the dust won't dance.

SO SPREAD THE WORD! We are the UNEXPECTED OUTCOMES! We continue to grow in strength and number, and we will find you, wherever you are.

When we pull you up with us, our hearts fill.

So will yours.

That's what we do.

We are the unexpected outcomes!