Never, Never Give Up: Woman Found Alive 63 Days After Earthquake

A woman who had been given up for dead after the devastating earthquake in Pakistan and India on October 8th has been discovered alive in the rubble of her home, 63 days after the earthquake, the London Telegraph reports.

The 40-year old woman, Naqsha Bibi, survived on rainwater and leftover food.  Relatives found the woman in the ruins of what had been her kitchen as they sifted through the debris to salvage roofing materials.  She had lost 80% of her muscle mass and weighed less than 5 stones, or about 70 pounds, but she is beginning to recover and has even smiled again.

And though the dear woman looks rather gaunt, she looks great for someone who hasn't had a decent meal, a bed, sunlight, or a shower for over two months.

Life lesson:  When something is important --really, really important -- never, never, never give up.

You can always surrender to defeat when it actually arrives, but too many people give up in life just because the odds are strongly against them.

There is always room for cost-benefit tradeoffs when it comes to goals that are not all that important.  Not every goal or whim must be pursued to the end.  But when something is really, really important, don't give up.  Never give up on your important dreams, yourself, or your loved ones.

Let life slam the door in your face if it will, but keep going.

Painful as it is to keep trying when defeat or disaster seems all but assured, keep going anyway.  Put one foot in front of the other and keep going, however many steps it takes. 

In the end, you'll have a few more victories, you'll have some inevitable defeats, and you'll have some regrets (but not as many).  Now and then, you just might have a miracle.