Monday 17 May 2010

Jessica is back, safe and well after living the dream.

Great excitement in Sydney on Saturday morning as intrepid young sailor, Jessica Watson crossed the line in her yacht, Ella's Pink Lady, after her round the world trip of 210 days. Apparently she started planning it when she was 14 years old after being inspired by Jessie Martin's sail when he was 16 years old. What euphoria as she sailed into glorious Sydney Harbour, accompanied by a flotilla of boats, who wanted to be in on the action at the end. Thousands lined the shores, right up to the Opera House, where a pink carpet was laid in her honour.

Jessica sailed off amongst much controversy. Many (me included) thought she should not take the risk. But she has lived her dream and inspired countless others. She always says the same thing in interviews: anyone can live their dream. It takes hard work, but there is nothing you cannot do if you believe in yourself. To quote Walter Bagehot:

The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.”

All of our dreams cannot possibly come true if we have too many, but some of them certainly can. Living the dream. Nothing like it.



As Sylvia Plath used to say:

"The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt."

6 comments:

joanne fox said...

I heard a snippet of an interview with her on the radio after her epic trip. She sounded very down to earth and mature - definitely inspiring. Well done Jessica!

Denise Covey said...

Very inspirational, not just for the young, although apparently the sailing clubs have been swamped (ha ha) with join ups.

notesfromnadir said...

Thanks for sharing this beautiful story about an adventurous teenager who does something positive & inspirational with her time.

Anonymous said...

Wow! That IS inspirational! And you picked some great quotes to go with the post, it gave me goosebumps!

Denise Covey said...

Thank you notesfromnadir, isn't it wonderful to share something so inspirational about the young...

Lilah, glad you liked the entry. She is truly a lovely girl. I thought the quotes said it all...

prashant said...

Thanks for sharing this beautiful story
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