This is the bill board that was part of a big change in my life. While traveling to work on the train one morning last year I saw this and rushed to google what it was all about with an excitement that I haven’t felt for a long time.
So what do you do when you reach a stage of your life where you realize that things haven’t worked out exactly as you had hoped. I always wanted to be part of a busy family, with a supportive husband and kids, maybe even some grandkids, a successful career that I absolutely love, in a suburban house with a comfortable car, and dogs and cats to complete the picture. This didn’t happen for me. My life took a different route.
It took many months of forcing myself through a thick cloud of depression, and a big black hole of dark emotions, to focus on what was positive and incredible in my life. I had my health, my friends, my loving parents, myself and the freedom to live any future I choose. That is more than what a lot of people have.
The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is a unique event where anyone, even if they have never stepped on a boat before, can join the voyage and circumnavigate in an eleven month-long marathon. I don’t have much sailing experience, but the little I did have inspired a passion I wanted to explore further. The idea of an adventure that would take me into a completely different life and challenge me in every possible way, sparked a new joie de vivre, strength and belief in myself I knew I had to reignite.
Believe me, I realise that this is not going to be a walk in the park, and that I will often wonder why on earth I decided to test my will power and adventurous spirit to such extremes.
Through my odyssey I hope to inspire others to realise that one is never too old or too broken to make the best of the way life has turned out.
