Steemit Engagement Challenge Season 9 Week 4 - ''An Inspirational Figure In Cyberspace''

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Cyberspace…

Let me introduce you to a South African-born man who was raised by his parents with the idea that a free spirit was normal. He is indeed free-spirited, and he was marked as a genius by his mother at the age of three.

A boy who preferred a holiday in the desert where he could see the stars over a holiday at the coast swimming in the warm water of the Indian Ocean. A boy who grew up to be a man who is admired by millions… Elon Musk.

My inspirational figure in cyberspace… Elon Musk

Elon Reeve Musk was born in my beloved country, South Africa in the city of Pretoria, on June 28, 1971.

It is just totally mind-boggling who this man is.

I often wonder if he does all the things he do because he wants to, or because he thinks they should be done and nobody is doing anything about them.

If Elon wants something, he will create it.

• He wanted a new game, so guess what? He was only 12 when he created Blastar.
• He wanted an online directory, so guess what? He created Zip2.
• He wanted a new payment method, so guess what? He created PayPal.
• He wanted to fly out of space, so guess what? He created SpaceX, the first private space company.
• He wanted an electric car, so guess what? He created Tesla.
• He wants to live on Mars, so guess what? He is making a plan.

Of all the above, SpaceX is the one that interests me the most. When I heard of the launch in 2002, I was curious. Why on earth would someone start an aerospace company privately?

I got my answers;

1. He wanted to reduce the cost of space travel.
2. He wanted to start a colony on Mars.

"That's one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind"
According to me, in the eyes of Elon, these words of Neil Armstrong when they landed on the moon, need to be rewritten in the history books.

Despite the negativity and, of course, the explosions and failed launches, he stayed positive. SpaceX got it right and successfully launched and returned the first privately owned spacecraft orbiting the earth.

It is clear that soon SpaceX will have more operating satellites in orbit, scattered around the earth, than the combined number of the rest of the world’s satellite operators.

Elon will not leave a stone unturned, or should I rather say "a star unturned," for what he wants to achieve in space one day.

Why is he inspirational to me?

He is tough!

Elon grew up in a time that was tough in South Africa. There was a lot of violence, and the apartheid struggle was like a champagne bottle that could pop at any moment.

As a child, he was bullied at school, but it taught him to turn a deaf ear and to harden himself. He uses situations like these to motivate himself.

He doesn’t complain!

I don’t always agree with what he is saying, nor doing, but one thing I do know is that I have never heard him openly complain about the state of the world or anything else. He will keep quiet, do something about it himself, or just fire those who don't!

He is totally independent!

Whatever he does in life, he does it himself, or if he cannot do it, he will stay to be part of it.

He is independent when it comes to his family, work ethics, and politics.

This is me. Accept me for who I am. We can all learn from him.

He doesn’t give a darn about what others have to say!

So often, we get upset about what people say or think about us. This is not the case for Elon, not when he was little or now. He was the only white child at the funeral of the father of one of his black friends. They mocked him at school, but he did not care. As my daughter would say, "Ellon takes it from whoever it comes from."

He doesn’t give up on his goals!

He once said, "If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough." He failed many times, but he never gave up.

Yes, we can say that he is more intelligent than us, more innovative, and has more money, but that should not stop us from giving up on our goals.

If only I had half the determination that he has, I would be happy.

Why I would like to meet Elon

I have not met Elon. I sure would like to. He has such an unbelievable energy about him that I would like to know how he does it.
I would like to shake his hand and congratulate him for being who he is: an uncomplicated, free-spirited, innovative visionary.

Why Mars? I would love to know, from his side and not from the media side, why he wants to settle on Mars and not a desert island somewhere in the middle of an ocean.
When all is done, I want to know why he is not helping his land of birth, South Africa, when clearly he could.

A private trip with Elon: the where, the why, and the how

There is only one place I want to go with Elon… orbit Earth.

I don’t like flying, even though I have flown many times in my life. I am one of those who prefers both feet solid on the ground, but if I could orbit the earth in a space shuttle with Elon, I would be the luckiest woman not only on earth but also in space. If William Shatner (James T. Kirk from Star Trek) cried, I truly don’t know what I would be doing.

I would love to see the sun rise and go down on Mother Earth

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I would love to see various landmarks like the Big Wall of China, the Annapurna peak in the Himalayas, the Nile River of Africa, and the city lights of a city like New York.

It is clear that we won’t be flying more than 100 kilometers above sea level as I want to see as much as possible. This will then also be the fourth layer of the atmosphere, which is called the "thermosphere."

Which payment method would you like to use for your trip, and why?

Umh… traveling with a man like Elon Musk in one of his spacecraft, and as a fellow South African, I hope that I won’t be paying. But if I have to pay, I will have to pray very hard for a SUPER discount as I will be paying with my STEEM.

Elon is a super fan of crypto currency, and who knows, he might just see my few STEEM and decide to forget about Dodgecoin for a moment and invest in STEEM. Oh gosh! Just think what this could do to STEEM.

I think it is time to start that letter.

Dear, Elon

This is me, a fellow South African and a clear fan. Today...

I invite:
@pelon53 @simonnwigwe @fantvwiki