Abby Sunderland

If you have not heard by now, there is a young girl, no, woman, who is out in the middle of the Indian Ocean stranded in her sailboat. Abby Sunderland, the 16 year old from Thousand Oaks, California who is attempting to be the youngest person to sail around the world sent out a distress signal Wednesday. Search and rescue teams have located Abby and say she is fine. A fishing boat in the area has been dispatched to rescue Abby in the next 24 hours.

But this entry that I write isn't about Abby's current situation. This entry is about all the terrible things I've read on the Internet discussing that it was wrong for Abby to go out to sea at her age. It's also about the hatred in people as they sit like a coward behind their computers making mockery of the situation.

The Internet has become too cynic and full of Haters. It is become a sort of norm when people either try to act funny to rock the boat, or display acts of ignorance. This entry is directed to those who have nothing better to do than demonstrate their weakness and insecurities.

Now, I would admit never would I ever imagine myself being instilled at the ripe age of 16 to do what Abby is trying to accomlish. I recall at that age I was just a typical kid going through high school trying to fit in and get good grades. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought of sailing, nor even sailing around the world.

Haters, very few would have the balls to get on a sailboat and travel around the world, at any age. Your words demonstrate insecurity and self fear. Those who choose to risk nothing, waste energy in complaining and see things in a dark light. They lack the gift of inspiration, the ability to dream.

If Christopher Columbus, Marco Polo, Ponce De Leon, Magellan or any of the other number of brave explorers who set sail 500 years ago took your stance, this world would be shriveled up like a ball too afraid of adventure and expedition.

Curiosity, the need for self accomplishment, drives the inner soul. Its what makes humans reach further, to do things that seem impossible. Its what makes an individual whole. Those who do not understand, do not live life.

I take my hat off to people like Abby Sunderland who are brave and courageous enough to take on this endeavor. This has nothing to do with age. It has everything to do with strong inner desire and motivation. Abby, her family, including her brother Zac who at the age of sixteen broke the record last year. Therefore, being sixteen years old is not the reason to judge nor is gender. Some people dream possibilities while others fear despair.

If Abby was within miles of her goal, none of you would be making a case against her. You would be cheering her on and welcoming her accomplishment. Instead, you get caught up in the current situation of failure, instead of looking at things in a positive light - she is doing something you will never do.

Its wrong to judge others who have a strong motivation and desire for accomplishment. Where I live, in Silicon Valley, California being an entrepreneur is a mindset. Here is where fantastic companies like Google, eBay, Intel, Cisco, Facebook, Hewlett Packard reside. You would not even be capable of reading this article nor typing in a computer if it were not for the inner desire and motivation of high technology individuals. I say this to draw the similarities between something you can relate to.

Its the same strong desire that was instilled in Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and many more famous individuals in their day. Imagine if Thomas Edison didn't try that one last time to get his idea of an incandescent light bulb to work. This whole world would be in darkness.

In times when it appears innovation and new capabilities in the world seem to have gone away, take heed to people like Abby Sunderland. Learn their uniqueness, their character, their makeup. Then take time to learn about you. Imprive thyself by expanding and growing. There is no doubt in my mind that unique individuals like Abby Sunderland have what it takes to persevere in life. These are the types of people that demonstrate greatness.

Imagine if everyone had this strong sense of exploration. Imagine how much the world would change for the better. The attitude of "can do" instead of "I'm afraid" would lift people to be courageous, to get them out of their lifetime rut of "averageness".

I can only wish the best for Abby and her safe return. My gut says that she will be right back out there. Welcome the fostering of families like The Sunderlands into your life. They are doing and teaching something different to their kids. They are speaking to the world that there are no setbacks in life by trying to find oneself and encouraging dreams, not hating them.

About Kerry Kobashi

Kerry is the founder of KerryOnWorld. He lives in Silicon Valley and has worked as an engineer and project manager. He owns Kobashi Computing a consulting company.