How to change your life forever: change what you think you are capable of.

I'd like to say that ALL OF YOU ARE INCREDIBLE.

Your messages of support for my crazy dream of flying to space have been overwhelming.

So many have told me that they believe in me, that they are telling everyone they know to vote and that they themselves are "voting the crap out of my page." (Many thanks to ABFTS for making me laugh really hard at that!)

But still others have written to thank me. Several people have told me how they or someone close to them are going through their own struggles with depression, anxiety, or both. They say my writing has helped, touched and inspired them.

I'm sorry for those of you who are still struggling. :( My heart is with you, and I only wish I could do something more to help. If I could, I would give you all an enormous hug.

And I am incredibly grateful. Because even if the ONLY thing I accomplished by entering this contest was to help someone, somewhere, just a little, it was totally worth it.

Knowing that I've helped people gives me an absolutely wonderful feeling inside. (I imagine it's similar to the feeling of visiting space. Probably even better!) =']

So where am I at? At time of writing my entry has received almost 1000 votes. This is way more than I anticipated and I am extremely touched. Out of over a THOUSAND entries, I am in the top sixty. This is incredible!

Is it enough to win by next Monday? I'll be honest: probably not. Am I going to give up? HECK NO.

So I'm setting a goal. A realistic goal, I think, but one that will require me to keep putting everything I have into this. That was my plan - all or nothing. I would love to make it into the top 20.

At time of writing, 5000 votes would put me there... but other people will be getting more votes too. Of course, since everyone can vote ten times a day, it's more like "500 votes." Right? =P

If you have a blog and want to support the cause, would you consider putting this button on your site? (Just for a week?) The code is all right here in the box; simply copy-paste it into an html widget. (The bottom image links to the voting page, and the top image links to the post where I explain it all.)

<a href="http://www.defenestratedfeet.com/2012/03/one-batcrap-crazy-girl-looking-up.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Help send a blogger to space!" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiivZ2hMLl980P3XPd-Hc8rr2Na1cxCfXmZSYYOV6t-gmx9t9hS807fpzZLBSg1-JDYIiZdXK811Et9Dsf_p-vNLA4Hw0HVWppmTQtPd_OowCDNJS8gXd7behnp5j_iPoeAMLVyRJJYs3qo/s1600/Help+send+a+blogger+to+space.jpg" title="Read my story"/></a><br /> <a href="http://metroinspace.com/ca/view/crr6/Remember_to_DREAM" target="_blank"><img alt="Click here to vote 10x daily!" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQpfMcX6bvDErrCu9L0DbAb7x0pLiNEVyLUrQQ9CbH2i24lVdNKqhYlO5ligXHw8TSOY5QFcB_7_Ic7J7FwxSAke0_Rsykuq-pji2yd7BDBHu00WhAlQ5vdgpvRBx_9zG7CDV2lySvwFI/s1600/Click+here+and+vote.jpg" title="Vote here"/></a>

(If you do, THANK YOU FOREVER in advance! You are WONDERFUL!)

Win or lose, just entering this contest has already been the best decision I've made in a while. I already find myself looking at new challenges and opportunities differently. I have plans in the next month to pursue two new (slightly more realistic =P) goals despite how much they scare me. If I was capable of overcoming my doubts and entering this contest, well... how much more am I capable of?

A whole CRAPLOAD, that's what!

Thank you times a million to everyone who has supported me in this and who continues to support me. I'll keep bugging you for one more week. Just seven days! I'll post something of my more usual fare later this week. =)

♥ Lots of love,
Ellen