I went to a talk with Friends star & actor, Matthew Perry. He was promoting his new memoir: Friends, Lovers and a Big Terrible Thing. And I just finished reading his story.

Wow. What a harrowing journey. He was raw and unflinching about his battle with addiction. 65 detoxes, 10+ relapses, 5+ surgeries, and flirting with death — Perry was struggling with this disease for multiple decades. I was taken aback by the psychological war he faced privately while keeping up his success publicly.

At the end of the book, Perry recounts a great quote that helped him: “When we go before Him, God will ask, ‘Where are your scars?’ Most would proudly say, ‘I have no scars.’ And God will ask, "Was there nothing worth fighting for?’”

No matter how rich, famous, or privileged — we all fight against something. And it’s bound to batter and bruise us along the way.

Remember it’s a testament not to how much you’ve lost, but to how far you’ve come.