His account of how he survived is fascinating. His ingenuity — how he managed to catch fish, how he fixed his solar still (evaporates sea water to make fresh) — is very interesting.

But the thing that caught my eye was how he managed to keep himself going when all hope seemed lost, when there seemed no point in continuing the struggle, when he was suffering greatly, when his life raft was punctured and after more than a week struggling with his weak body to fix it, it was still leaking air and wearing him out to keep pumping it up. He was starved. He was desperately dehydrated. He was thoroughly exhausted. Giving up would have seemed the only sane option.

When people survive these kinds of circumstances, they do something with their minds that gives them the courage to keep going. Many people in similarly desperate circumstances give in or go mad. Something the survivors do with their thoughts helps them find the guts to carry on in spite of overwhelming odds.

“I tell myself I can handle it,” wrote Callahan in his narrative. “Compared to what others have been through, I’m fortunate. I tell myself these things over and over, building up fortitude….”

I wrote that down after I read it. It struck me as something important. And I’ve told myself the same thing when my own goals seemed far off or when my problems seemed too overwhelming. And every time I’ve said it, I have always come back to my senses.

The truth is, our circumstances are only bad compared to something better. But others have been through much worse. I’ve read enough history to know you and I are lucky to be where we are, when we are, no matter how bad it seems to us compared to our fantasies. It’s a sane thought and worth thinking.

So here, coming to us from the extreme edge of survival, are words that can give us strength. Whatever you’re going through, tell yourself you can handle it. Compared to what others have been through, you’re fortunate. Tell this to yourself over and over, and it will help you get through the rough spots with a little more fortitude.

Finding qualified caregivers and nannies for your family! With locations in Quebec, Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Ontario-Canada wide

Ken Taylor began re-writing the Bible in a contemporary translation and had more than 60 rejections. He finally decided to self-publish “The Living Bible” and it became one of the greatest best-sellers in publishing history.

If you’re qualified for a particular job, never stop interviewing — even if you return to the same companies five or six times. Meanwhile, you need to accept an interim position to keep yourself gainfully employed. When you add lack of funds to job rejection, it’s a double-whammy. Never overlook working for a “temporary” employment agency. It gives you a chance to demonstrate your skills to a number of companies and can open some exciting doors. As a last resort, start free-lancing your skills. Who knows? You may wind up with your own business and be your own boss!

Finding qualified caregivers and nannies for your family! With locations in Quebec, Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Ontario-Canada wide

My youngest son, Brayden, was born three months premature with heart and brain defects. He is now 4 ½ years old. He is multi-handicapable. When he was young, the doctors told us he probably wouldn’t survive, much less ever sit, walk, talk, or eat. He began eating orally a year and a half ago. He began talking one year ago, and is now nearly age appropriate in expressive communication! The most exciting accomplishment, however, is his walking. He had a bilateral tendon release on his hamstrings and gastrocs last November. Since recovering from the surgery, he began pulling to stand, cruising furniture, and could take up to 6 independent steps, even without his walker! Only other parents of children with special needs can understand the intense emotion that surrounds such feats!

Now, he is walking around the house with little assistance and now able to squat to pick something up and stand up again without help!! I cannot wait for the day that he can walk up to those nay-saying doctors and show them who is really in charge!! – J.B., Bartlesville, OK

“We were attacked by pirates three times,” says Florence. “I was too young to know exactly what was happening or to understand the danger, but I do remember the feeling that something very serious was happening, that something was not right.”

Plucked from the sea by Malaysian authorities, Florence, her sister, mother and father spent the next six months in a crowded refugee camp with thousands of others who’d taken the same chance on freedom.

Eventually, Florence and her family met with a Canadian immigration official, who left a lasting impression.

“He was the first Caucasian person I had ever seen,” she says.

Florence recalls the feelings more than the actual events. “There were medical examinations, the dentist, interviews. I remember feeling the seriousness of the situation,” she says. “I could tell my parents were very concerned, very worried.”

Florence also remembers her father being very upset when the immigration officials said that the refugee family would be going to Québec City — a place of which he’d never heard.

“He begged for us to be allowed to go to Toronto or Montréal,” Florence says, laughing. “He said, ‘I cannot have my family living in an igloo. We must have electricity.’ ”

Once the matter of electricity was cleared up, the family went to Québec City.

“Our first home was very simple, and not in a very good part of the city,” says Florence. “But the people who lived in the neighbourhood, even though they had little themselves, were so generous, so welcoming.”

“The man who lived next door to us built me a little toy car from wood. I will never forget that little toy car.”

Today, Florence, a graduate of Laval University, works in Ottawa with Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

“I always wanted to be in public service of some kind,” she says. “I felt this was the best way to thank Canada and Canadians for taking us in, for giving us a new and better life—by working to make Canada even better.”

Florence is also deeply grateful to her parents.

“I realize now how difficult and what a struggle it was for them,” she says. “They did such extraordinary things for my sister and me to give us a better life.”

In January of 2008, Florence and her sister travelled to Vietnam.

“After all that time I spent as a child feeling sort of disconnected, to be back in the country where I was born, standing in front of the embassy of my new country—it’s hard to describe the feeling: strange and wonderful at the same time.”

Florence hopes that some day she will be able to work for Canada in another country, perhaps even in Vietnam.

“It’s such a thriving, vibrant place,” she says. “I believe our two countries have a great deal to offer one another, and I would love to play a part in bringing us closer together. It would be like closing the circle for me.”