Alright y’all… overcoming adversity is one of those things everybody talks about like it’s some clean, inspirational movie montage, but let me be deadass with you right now from my messy apartment in the US while it’s snowing sideways outside and my coffee’s already cold — most of the time it feels like straight-up drowning with occasional gulps of air that taste like gasoline.
I’ve had my own pathetic moments (lost a job I loved because I was too anxious to speak up, gained 40 lbs in one year from stress eating Taco Bell at 2 a.m., cried in my car in a Walmart parking lot for literally 45 minutes once), so when I look at people who actually made it through the grinder and came out shining, I’m equal parts inspired and mildly annoyed. Like… how dare you make it look possible?
Here are 7 humans (some famous, some you’ve probably never heard of) who got absolutely crushed by life and still managed to pull off a legit triumph. I’m not gonna sugarcoat their stories — they’re messy, ugly, and human as hell.
1. J.K. Rowling – When rock bottom literally had a welfare office
She was a single mom on welfare, clinically depressed, her marriage had imploded, and she was rejected by TWELVE publishers. Like… twelve. I get ghosted by two people on Hinge and I’m ready to delete the app forever.
Yet somehow she kept scribbling in cafés while her baby napped. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone finally got picked up. Now she’s one of the richest authors ever. → Read her own raw Harvard commencement speech about failure here: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/06/text-of-j-k-rowling-speech/
Text of J.K. Rowling’s speech — Harvard Gazette
(Okay real talk — Overcoming Adversity I still haven’t finished the series because I’m afraid of the ending, don’t @ me.)
2. Chris Gardner – Homeless dad with a toddler who became a millionaire broker
Slept in subway bathrooms with his two-year-old son while trying to break into stockbroking with zero connections, no college degree, and every door slammed in his face. Will Smith’s movie Pursuit of Happyness is based on him, but the real story is somehow even more gut-punching.
He just… kept showing up. Every single day. → His official site still has the timeline if you want the unfiltered version: https://chrismgardner.com/
I literally can’t imagine. I complain when the Wi-Fi drops for 8 seconds.
Here’s a quick visual that gives me chills every time — the kind of image that makes you feel small but weirdly motivated:
I searched for some powerful images that capture that raw “keep going” energy. Check these out:
3. Bethany Hamilton – Lost an arm to a shark, still shredded as a pro surfer
Thirteen years old, attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark, lost 60% of her blood, arm gone. Six months later she was back on the board. Won national championships. Still competes professionally.
I once sprained my ankle stepping off a curb wrong and milked it for three weeks.
→ Her foundation and story: https://www.bethanyhamilton.com/
4–7. (I’m running out of steam and my dog just knocked over my water bottle so we’re gonna speedrun the rest because life is chaos)
- Oprah Winfrey – Born into poverty, abused as a child, fired from her first TV job… became, well, Oprah.
- Nick Vujicic – Born without arms or legs, now motivational speaker married with four kids.
- Liz Murray – Homeless teen who slept on subway trains, got herself into Harvard. (Read her memoir Breaking Night if you want to ugly-cry.)
- My neighbor Dave – Lost his wife to cancer two years ago, started drinking too much, almost lost the house, went to rehab, now he’s sober, coaches little league, and brings me tomatoes from his garden every summer like nothing ever happened.
Yeah. Dave’s my favorite one.
ELIZABETH MURRAY – HOMELESS TO HARVARD – Compassion Exchange
And then there’s your neighbor Dave — ordinary, real, and quietly heroic. After losing his wife, battling alcohol, nearly losing everything, and coming back stronger — sober, coaching little league, and still sharing those summer tomatoes like it’s no big deal.
A simple, grounded image that feels just right for him:
Look… overcoming adversity doesn’t always look like million-dollar book deals or TED Talks. Sometimes it looks like getting out of bed when everything hurts, making instant noodles for dinner again, and telling yourself “tomorrow maybe I’ll shower.”
If you’re in the middle of your own dumpster-fire era right now — same. Seriously. Same.
But if these seven (and Dave) can claw their way toward some version of triumph, maybe we can too. Even if our version is just… not giving up today.
