"... and life worth living"

Imagine you are an 48-year-old woman with an much-less-than-average appearance, a clumsy gait and wrinkled face. Moreover, you have been single throughout your life and were living on unemployment allowances. What would "living" mean anything else to you, beside a daily repeated routine to make ends meet, drink tea every afternoon, eat cheap canned food for dinner and spend time with a pet partner?

Even though you are fortunate not to be such a woman, you might see many similar cases around you... people who think of nothing other than fulfilling the basic needs, people who let their life flow through silently, people who give in to failure... or people whose life is taken for granted until the end. Dream was too much a glamorous, out-of-reach thing to have, let alone success and achievements.

You know who I'm talking about. Susan Boyle. From the moment I listened to her singing "I Dreamed a Dream", my heart kept beating faster as if it was jumping out. But it was until I read the behind stories about her life that I started crying. What in the world had motivated this old, "failed" woman to walk out of her daily life and walk on the stage? What had given her the courage to stand alone and perform to thousands of people? There was no miracle here - simply enough, it was her mother's last will to see her "do something". Her mother might have realized her talent, or maybe she just want to boost her confidence. But certainly, this woman has an amazing but hidden confidence in herself. Otherwise, she would never be able to keep calm against whistles and smirks from the audience and sing with the deepest passion of the heart. She noticed all of these reactions, but she was so strong-willed that she did not let them interfere in her tribute to her deceased mother.

I've watched the performance for the 100th time, but still can not hold on to myself. Not only I, but millions of people around the world have been moved by her voice and redeemed by her story. That nothing, even the toughest, can ever be the dead-end of your life. They are only the challenges that you have to overcome, regardless of the case you are in. Therefore, I'm not exaggerating to say that she has made history, and become the most beautiful example for the unlimited power of human beings.

And somehow, she reminds me of the pigeon woman in "Home Alone: Lost in New York"...

P.S: this is my favorite scene... look at Simon Cowell's face... it was expressive than any word could be described. It was full of pleasures and satisfaction... At that time, I know he has deeply felt for the performance.