There is not one word which can fittingly describe Turia Pitt.
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Intelligent, yes. Courageous, yes. Funny, very. Down to earth, completely. Resilient, totally. Inspirational, definitely yes.
Turia’s address to the Illawarra Women in Business lunch at the City Beach Function Centre on Friday sold out in less than a week.
The establishment was jam-packed and everyone hung on her words, totally captivated by the life lessons she was offering.
Turia didn’t spend the entire presentation going over her harrowing ordeal of sustaining burns to 65 per cent of her body while competing in an ultra marathon in WA.
Most of the country knows Turia’s story all too well.
Instead she told anecdotes of her life since then and the philosophies that have helped her along the journey.
Life presents challenges to all of us in different ways.
As Turia points out, it is how you approach those challenges that defines you.
You can let them dictate you or you can take control of them and dictate how you overcome those hurdles in your life.
The important thing is getting through them.
At the end of Turia’s talk, for which she received a standing ovation, a member of the audience stood and asked her a question.
She queried what Turia’s next big physical challenge would be, knowing Turia has competed in marathons and ironman triathlons.
In response, Turia simply turned sideways.
It was her way of showing off the baby bump which will see Turia and her fiance Michael become proud parents in December.
Who needs a physical challenge when you are about to become a first-time mum?
If Turia’s journey tells us anything it is that life is for the living.
Life can be taken away in an instant so it stands to reason that it is worth making the most out of every moment we have to enjoy life.
If someone who has been through what Turia has and is telling us that it’s kind of hard to argue.
Thank you Turia for sharing with the Illawarra again and congratulations to the Illawarra Women In Business, of which the Mercury is a proud partner, for an inspiring afternoon.