The most Inspiring Story I have heard in Ages

Last night I watched the National Geographic channel and a program called Megabuilders. It was the story of a concept by one Micky Arison who studied the trends in tourism and decided it was time to build a new Trans Atlantic Passenger Liner. They had long ago gone out of fashion and the QE2 was getting ready to retire.

He had no design, no plan, no idea of how he would do it but do it he knew he must.

He did have some money so he bought Cunard, the company that owned and built the QE2. He then got a ship's architect, Stephen Payne, who had gone aboard QE2 as a child and had decided that it was his future to design a ship like it. He set to work and did it.

But Arison had a tall order to fill. The ship had to be bigger, better, faster and more luxurious than anything afloat. It had to do a maximum of 40 knots, never heard of, it had to have balconies for one third of the passengers, never heard of, it had to fit under the golden gate bridge, fit into the Panama Canal and do a tight turn at Southampton Docks.

The ship they came up with was 3 times the size of Titanic. The innovation they were capable of was awesome, the science put into it overwhelming, the breakthroughs enormous and then the ship was completed. In the 2 years specified everything was done and it filled every requirement.

It is too wide for the Panama Canal but in the following program came news that it is being widened as many ships are having a tight squeeze there. It turns like a motor car with ease doing very tight turns, thanks to the underwater gyrating screws which have done away with the propeller. It is fully controlled by computers linked to satellite navigation which almost makes the Captain obsolete.

Long to short. What seemed impossible at the beginning turned out to be the great ship that now plies the ocean, completes the Atlantic crossing in six days, never heard of, and is the most stable and luxurious boat on the planet. It is, of course, the Queen Mary 11, named after Queen Mary 1.

This story inspired me so much I could hardly sleep from the inspiration and urges it stirred within me. It proves again that there is no such thing as can't. All it takes is positive attitudes. The make-believe movies that affect so many these days does not do it. Violence, fighting, wars, and the rush to wealth is no replacement for an actual look at what can be done with positive thinking and innovation.

This was the most inspiring story I have heard in recent years. Thanks to those who do not take no for an answer and are prepared to push their ideas to the limit.

God bless,

Norma