‘Distance travelled in the last 24 hrs – 260 miles’
I’m coming home baby,
‘Distance travelled on course – 257 miles’
I’m coming home baby,
‘Distance to Cape Town – 1281 miles’
I’m coming home baby
Foulies on, and I throw myself out of the washing machine below, into the washing machine above.
I climb to the mast, stare at the horizon in the glory of the South Atlantic Sea, and cry.
My mind has been tested, pushed, and torn. But I still get up out of my bunk, don more clothes than I have ever worn at one time, and think of home. I think about the time of day at home and what my family would be doing. I picture myself with them, for only a few seconds. Then I climb, I climb to my watch, and I climb in my mind, ready for what this shift has for me.
My body, oh my body, tested, pushed, bruised, and worn. Everything I have asked of this body it has done, not willingly but it has. On reflection I have probably pushed it too far, causing more discomfort than is needed but nothing long-term, and - knowing this body - it will recover. Our bodies are truly amazing things.
Brene Brown’s Call to Courage was the last thing I watched before this endurance and the similarity between courage and vulnerability is shown clearly on this boat. I have had to understand that with courage and determination, a vulnerability is created when I can no longer push, and I have to start failing. I do not accept failure as a negative word. Only a point in our adventure that we need to learn from and remember in the future. My failure has been understanding the limitations of my body and ignoring them to the point of becoming less than a team member. Do not take this as a negative reflection as I do not. I take it as an open reflection that I acknowledge and every hour, every watch, and every day I will ask my mind and body as long as I just ask for what I can do, then I will have been here, present, and doing my part.
Everything you need to do, you can. Everything you want to do, you can. Anything you don’t want to do, you still can. And anything you don’t think you can do, you still can. Just make sure you choose.