Survivors’ Anthem Series # 55: “We Are the Champions” by Queen

For the Warriors Who Keep Showing Up

Some songs feel different depending on the chapter of life you're living when you hear them.

I've known “We Are the Champions” by Queen for years. It's iconic. It's triumphant. It's the kind of song that can bring an entire room together. But right now, it feels incredibly personal. Because when I look around at the people in my life, I see warriors.

I see people facing battles they never asked for. I see people navigating uncertainty. I see people who have already walked through circumstances that could have knocked them down, and somehow found the strength to stand again. And I see people I love who are still right in the middle of their fight.

So Survivors’ Anthem # 55 isn't only about me.

This one is for all of them.

What Makes Someone a Champion?

When we hear the word champion, we often think about winning, crossing the finish line, holding the trophy, standing victorious after the battle is over.

But life has taught me that being a champion doesn't always look like that. Sometimes being a champion means getting out of bed when you're exhausted. Sometimes it means showing up for another appointment. Sometimes it means asking for help. Sometimes it means leaving a relationship you never thought you'd be able to leave.

Sometimes it's surviving something you never imagined would become part of your story.

Sometimes it's simply saying:

I'm still here.

There are victories nobody applauds because nobody else knows how difficult they were.

Those victories count too.

For the Warriors in My Life

This song feels especially meaningful to me right now because there are people I love facing incredibly difficult circumstances. When someone you love is going through something hard, you desperately want to fix it.

You want to take away the fear. You want to carry the pain for them. You want guarantees about what comes next. But sometimes you can't do any of those things.

You can only stand beside them. Love them. Encourage them. Remind them of their strength when they've temporarily forgotten it themselves. And keep believing alongside them.

Right now, “We Are the Champions” feels like the song I want to blast for every person in my life who is fighting a battle, past or present. Not because every battle has been won. But because they continue to show up for it.

Survivors Are Champions Too

This message reaches directly into the heart of the Survivors’ Anthem Series. Survivors know what it means to fight battles other people may never see.

We know what it means to keep moving forward while carrying memories, triggers, grief, fear, and questions.

We know that healing doesn't happen because we suddenly become fearless. Sometimes healing happens because we're afraid and keep going anyway.

For survivors of abuse, there may never be a trophy for leaving. No stadium erupts when you establish a boundary. Nobody hands you a medal for making it through a flashback. There isn't always applause when you finally tell someone what happened.

But those moments can require extraordinary courage.

Those are victories.

"We"

What strikes me most about this song right now isn't even the word champions. It's the word we.

Not I.

We.

There is something powerful about that. So much of trauma, illness, grief, and adversity can feel isolating. You can feel as though you're standing in your own little corner of the world fighting something nobody else truly understands.

But none of us gets through life entirely alone. Sometimes we need someone to sit beside us. Sometimes we need someone to remind us that we're loved. Sometimes we need someone to fight alongside us. And sometimes we need an entire community singing back:

You're not standing here by yourself.

That's what this anthem represents to me.

Unity. Strength. Community. Hope.

The People Who Have Already Overcome

I also think about the champions in my life who have already walked through incredibly difficult chapters. People who survived things they weren't sure they could survive. People who rebuilt. People who healed. People who learned to laugh again. People whose scars don't represent weakness, but evidence of everything they carried and continued through.

Their stories remind me that sometimes the person who is struggling today needs to see someone who made it to tomorrow. Not because everyone's outcome or journey will be the same. But because seeing another person keep living can remind us that hope still has a place here.

Queen Has Always Known How to Make an Anthem

There is a reason Queen's music continues to fill arenas, movies, sporting events, cars, living rooms, and karaoke bars decades later.

Their music feels big.

Freddie Mercury didn't simply sing a song. He could make thousands of people feel like they were part of it.

Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon, and Freddie created music that continues to bring generations together.

And “We Are the Champions” may be one of the greatest examples of that.

You don't just listen to it.

You join it.

That's what makes it perfect for this series.

From “The Show Must Go On” to “We Are the Champions”

Queen has already appeared in the Survivors’ Anthem Series with “The Show Must Go On.” That anthem represented continuing even when life is incredibly difficult.

This one feels like its companion. Because sometimes you keep going long enough to finally look around and realize:

We made it through something.

Maybe we're changed. Maybe we're scarred. Maybe we're still healing. Maybe another battle is waiting. But we're here.

And sometimes being here is worth celebrating.

To the Warriors Still Fighting

This part is for you. The person waiting for answers. The person sitting beside someone they love. The survivor rebuilding their life.

The person facing another treatment, another appointment, another difficult conversation, another uncertain tomorrow.

The person who looks strong to everyone else but feels exhausted inside.

You don't have to feel powerful every second to be courageous.

You don't have to pretend you're okay. And you don't have to turn your struggle into an inspirational story while you're still living through it.

Sometimes courage is simply making it through today.

So today, I'm celebrating you.

What This Anthem Means to Me

Right now, “We Are the Champions” isn't a victory lap. It's a declaration of solidarity. It's for the people who overcame. It's for the people still fighting. It's for survivors. It's for caregivers. It's for families standing together when life becomes frightening.

It's for anyone who has ever needed another person beside them saying:

Keep going. I'm here.

Life will give us battles we never volunteered to fight. But there is tremendous strength in knowing we don't have to face them completely alone. And maybe that's what being a champion really means.

Not never falling. Not never being afraid. Not winning every battle. But continuing to show up, with love, courage, and people beside you.

We are the survivors.

We are the warriors.

We are the people who keep showing up.

And together, we are the champions. 💜

🛡️ Survivor Support & Safety Awareness

For survivors of domestic violence, feeling safer can be an important part of rebuilding independence.

That's why I'm proud to collaborate with Hootie Personal Safety Alarms as part of my survivor advocacy.

💜 For every 4 Hooties I sell, 1 is donated to a domestic violence shelter.

Visit gethootie.com and use code JANE for 10% off.

Every purchase through my collaboration helps move us closer to another donated alarm for a survivor.

Because every survivor deserves support as they move toward their next chapter.

💜 Continue the Journey

55 songs. 55 stories. And this one is for every champion among us on the Survivors' Anthem Series.

🎧 Listen to the Survivors’ Anthem playlists on Spotify and YouTube and discover more of The Music That Helped Us Heal.

📖 Read the International Impact Book Award-winning Because of Jane and discover the story behind so much of this journey.

📚 Because of Maddie: The Girl Who Said, “ENOUGH” releases October 3, 2026, continuing the Because of Series.

🦋 Explore The Jane Project and add your own thread of strength to our growing web of resilience.

And today, I want to ask something a little different:

Who is a champion in your life?

Maybe they're still fighting.

Maybe they've overcome.

Maybe they're simply getting through today.

You don't have to share their story. Just share their name, initials, or a 💜 if you want to honor them.

This anthem is for them.