What I Learned About Surviving and Thriving as a Child of Holocaust Survivors

Today I had the honour of interviewing John Franken, an 87-year old Atomic Bomb Survivor and ex-Japanese Prisoner of War, for my radio show How to Thrive after 35 Talk Radio airing January 6, 2010. Notice he has the same last name as me? That’s because he is my dad. Despite the horrors he survived during the war, my dad manages to be one of the most joyful people you could ever meet. While my dad was busy surviving as a prison of war in Nagasaki, Japan, my mother was on the other side of the world busy surviving the concentration camps in Nazi Germany. My mother was one of the most courageous and inspiring women you could ever meet as well. The same fighting spirit that enabled her to survive the war came shining through again later in life as she fought her 21 year battle with cancer that finally came to an end in January 2004.

In interviewing my dad today, it reminded me of the pain, loss and suffering that both my parents endured. It reminded me not only of what a miracle it is that they both survived, but that the universe brought them together and that I am even here on this planet. It reminded me of all they taught me about surviving and thriving as a child of holocaust survivors.

As we bring in the New Year, it truly is a time to reflect on the miracles in our own lives in how blessed we truly are. If you have a roof over your head, if you live in a country where there is peace, if you have a fridge filled with food, a means of income, a clean bill of health and have love in your life, then you are already rich beyond words compared with many others in the world who can only dream of what we have.

We are a society who always wants “more”, yet we often fail to celebrate and appreciate what we already have. When I think of what my parents had to overcome, it makes me appreciate what I have very deeply. It helps me keep my own “whining” into perspective so that I snap out of it and get back on a positive track VERY quickly. They were both tremendous role models for me as I was growing up of what it means to both survive and thrive. Their strength and thriving attitudes gave me the strength and courage I needed when I was battling my cancer, going through divorce, job loss and all the other adversities I have faced. They were my inspiration, especially my mother as she understood first-hand what it meant to be a cancer patient going through treatment and never knowing if and when it would ever poke up it's ugly head again.

We "whine" when the price of gas goes up a few cents as if it is the end of the world or when we have to shovel snow off our driveway. This is not hardship, my friends. I truly believe that we have so much that we don’t even know what true suffering means. It is easy to lose perspective. It is easy to fall into the “whining” trap.

As you start your New Year, I invite you to take stock of all the amazing things you have in your life RIGHT NOW! I invite you to celebrate the good things and keep your “whining” to a minimum. If those around you start incessantly “whining” and you feel yourself spiraling downward with them, then either help them snap out of it, or disengage from them. Instead, surround yourself with people who are as uplifting as you are striving to be as well. Be a role model for others and maybe just maybe you will help uplift someone who may not have otherwise been able to do so.

I wish you all a very happy, healthy and uplifting 2010!

Listen to the interview with my dad on How to Thrive after 35 Talk Radio airing January 6, 2010. Go to http://www.roslynfranken.com/howtothriveafter35talkradio.htm