To be a scientist and to work in a zoo,

To make it to the Olympics as a pole vaulter

And to maybe end up in space

Or in the middle of the Atlantic

In a rowing boat, dreaming of nights

On my luxury yacht, with my movie star man,

Drinking bottle of Moet

And laughing at how lucky I am.

Like a lot of people, I had big dreams when I was seven and I had a checklist of things that I wanted to achieve. I actually wrote them down and put them in a little purse and I would often look at them and sometimes add so I still remember a lot of what was in the list.

The funny thing is that I have achieved nearly all of the big things but not in the way I expected. And it makes me think that actually the universe or God or whatever you believe is controlling things, has quite a sense of humour.

I wanted to swim the channel and hold a world record and I did that in my own right. But I also said that I wanted to have something I’d written printed in a national newspaper. I ended up working for a company that sold living aids for old people and I wrote the copy for the adverts. I remember buying the paper and just staring at the advert, knowing I had written those words. Alas, I never got my own opinion column, but there is still time.

I also promised myself I would go to the Olympics, but I didn’t specify that I wanted to compete. I was lucky enough to get a ticket to see the swimming when we hosted the Olympics in London – a once in a lifetime opportunity, if ever there was one.

I’m sure we all have those childhood dreams that we still hang onto and I’d love to hear what other people have actually carried out. I wonder if anyone reading this has actually made it to space yet?

Much Love

Rachel xx