A dream come true

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Cameron Dueck
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Cameron Dueck |
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The halifax waterfront. Cameron finally arrived in Halifax after sailing through the Canadian Arctic.

The first words I said to my father when Silent Sound finally arrived in Halifax after sailing through the Canadian Arctic were, 'My dream has come true!'

He was standing on the dock in the pouring rain with the rest of my family, waiting to congratulate me on completing our epic voyage.

Sailing the Northwest Passage on my own boat was something I had dreamed of for years. This adventure taught me dreams can come true, and it's not luck but hard work and planning that makes it happen.

The Open Passage Expedition began as my own dream, but then it grew into a large team of people who adopted the dream as theirs.

When my dream began in 2004, I was too shy to tell people because it seemed unattainable. I didn't want people to tell me it wouldn't happen or I didn't have the money, time, skills or knowledge to make it come true.

But then as I started telling people about it, they began to see the passion I had for this plan. They saw that I was putting all my money, time and energy into making it come true and they pitched in to help. I had created a sensible plan to reach this incredible goal, and soon other people began to believe in the plan.

Soon it was no longer 'my' project but 'our' project.

A big part of making a dream come true is taking risks. Your dream won't come true if you're scared to step out, test yourself and give up some security in life. Maybe it means quitting a good job, spending all of your savings or standing up for what you want instead of giving into peer pressure.

The risks don't always pay off. I made mistakes while planning my expedition, but in the end we still reached our goal. But I had to take some risks to make it happen.

Seeing my dream come true has changed my way of looking at life's goals.

Now I'm eager to tackle new goals and dreams, because I've seen what I can do.

Cameron Dueck

If you have any questions, e-mail them to [email protected] with postcards in the subject field and we will forward them to Cameron.

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