I watched the film “True Spirit” a couple of weeks ago which was a very inspiring film. It tells the story when a 16 year-old girl, Jessica Watson, decided to follow her ambitions about 14 years ago and went on a very long adventure by boat, a bright pink one called “Ella’s Pink Lady”, all by herself for 210 days circumnavigating the globe starting in Sydney, Australia. She did it purely for the love of sailing from a young age.

What’s so incredible is how she coped on her own all that time, and how she managed the extremely dangerous choppy weather. She had a special video conferencing system set up between her and her family to track where she was – this was the only contact she had with the outside world.

She was very brave and never gave up on her dream even when things got very rough, literally. It was evidently an intense journey for her parents and siblings too as at one point during the film, they really thought she had died as they lost communication with her when the boat capsized for a while. This storm was a really terrifying one as multiple storms merged into one and the massive waves caused the boat to capsize 15 foot under water… At least she was belted up whilst lying on her bed! Not fun though, especially if you aren’t a rollercoaster ride fan.

However, Jessica didn’t have a choice – it was totally out of her control and she did the best she could to survive and thrive through her love and determination to complete her sailing mission. Miraculously, she survived and came back in one piece feeling on top of the world that she had reached her goal (and proved some people wrong!). She was so glad to be reunited with her family again and 80,000 people waited at the port to cheer her on and celebrate her success!!! What an amazing journey that was.

It was obviously a popular Netflix film and a lot of people wanted to read more about what she experienced after watching the film (her paperback book did sell out at one point), how she managed to live in such a small space all that time, what she ate, what she did to keep herself company, how she managed to keep herself sane without any people to talk to face to face and finally, how she managed to tackle the technical problems onboard. I’m yet to read the book that was published with the full story of what happened – I am very intrigued.

I know it’s not quite the same as the job hunting process is, but there are similarities when I think of all the ups, the downs, the setbacks, the excitement, the joy and then the waiting around which Jessica also experienced on the boat for about a week whilst there was no breeze or waves to move her forward at all. She was stuck in the middle of the ocean with nowhere to go and feeling very alone.

There is an innate creativity in all of us. When you take on a big project or goal you want to achieve, like looking for a new job for example, or sailing a boat around the world even, you do really need to concentrate on the task in hand, look after yourself in the meantime, and somehow carry on in the best and most positive way.

I find I need to really focus on doing what is right for me, what my inner knowing is telling me, what brings out my passion and inner spark, even though I don’t know how it’s all going to pan out and not getting attached to any particular outcome. Not knowing how this job opportunity is going to come about or the way in which it will be presented to me. All I can do is keep focusing on what I love to do, my passions, my gifts, my writing, my musical talents, and continually do what inspires and uplifts me, live, be happy, sing, dance, connect with friends and family, and also, have self-compassion, find peace within, connect with nature and do all that soothes me, listening to the sounds of the ocean waves, waterfalls, even if only on YouTube, being surrounded by beautiful, loving people and instruments, eating healthy food, all of which gives me the fuel to keep going – this allows me the space to present myself as my best and happiest self, feeling fulfilled and full of purpose and having a clearer sense of direction.

I do love sharing my joy with others for the things I love, putting a smile on people’s faces, and giving people hope and optimism for the future. It’s the best feeling knowing I’ve made a difference in someone else’s life, added to their inner joy, given them a new leash of life they didn’t know they had. It really fills me up to help people, to do more good in the world, to make the world a better place. For the greatest good of all, to bring me joy, to provide joy to others. Something inside of me needs to reach that place, the place where I can make a real difference in people’s lives, whether it is through my writing or music or just the person that I am with all the other practical, real life communications and organisational skills I have to offer. All I can do now is follow my own intuition, to follow what my heart is guiding me to do.

Over the years, I’ve realised that loving ourselves really isn’t selfish – there is often a negative connotation when we use this word but essentially, the more we love ourselves, the more we can love other people. It’s good to feel loved inside wherever we are, at home, or in the office, or wherever we choose to be.

There are different ways of course that we express ourselves professionally with colleagues and at home with our family and friends, but ultimately, it’s really important to do what fills our soul up, what uplifts us. When we fill ourselves with joy and self-love, we can pass this onto others and live happier lives. We often put conditions on our love, when we get the job, when we achieve something, then we have that permission to love ourselves, but how about doing it along the way and celebrate each little success as you go along? The little steps along the way are so important, acknowledging every step makes it easier to see how far you’ve come along the way by breaking it all down into smaller, bite-size, more manageable pieces.

A great, easy way of celebrating the little steps is to play an empowering song you like that maybe even contains the words you want to express but don’t know how. Along the way, whilst writing this blog, I thought I would listen to the song “Tightrope” from the Greatest Showman as it ties very well with the theme of this blog – I’ve included the inspiring lyrics from the first paragraph below:

“Some people long for a life that is simple and planned
Tied with a ribbon
Some people won’t sail the sea ’cause they’re safer on land
To follow what’s written
But I’d follow you to the great unknown
Off to a world we call our own”

It really is an adventure all of this self-love, but it’s really worth it, and worth keeping up the fight for its existence in our everyday lives. There is incredible value in each of us and we must do what makes us happy, if nothing else, to make sure we leave behind a strong legacy, one filled with gratitude, beauty, peace and love, never to be forgotten.

It really is all an adventure that comes with a breath-taking view – a girl can dream can’t she? – and we do have to make sure we take lots of deep breaths along the way!!!!