Florence May Chadwick was no stranger to goal setting. An American swimmer, she was the first woman in history to swim the twenty miles across the English Channel from France to England in 1950 and then a year later swim the same distance from England to France. And In 1594 she attempted unsuccessfully to be the first person to swim across Lake Ontario.
Between the English Channel successes and the Lake Ontario failure, Florence set yet another unbelievable goal: to be the first woman to swim the twenty-one miles from Catalina Island to the west coast of California. On the morning of July 4, 1952, the ocean between Catalina and California was shrouded in fog. Florence could hardly see the boats accompanying her to keep away the sharks.
Fatigue wasn’t a big problem, but the bone-chilling temperature of the water was. After fifteen hours of nonstop swimming, she succumbed to the temperature of the water and asked to be pulled into one of the boats.
Her mother and trainer in a boat alongside her urged her to keep on as they were getting near the coast. Yet all Florence could see was fog.
So she was pulled out of the water too cold and tired to continue. Later, she realized that she was only half a mile from completing the swim and achieving her goal.
When she learned how close she was when she quit, she blurted out, “I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen the shore, I might have made it!”
It wasn’t the distance or the cold that ultimately did her in. It was the fog.
When Florence Chadwick lost sight of her goal, she lost the will to continue.
Two months later on a day, when there was no fog in sight, she completed the swim, setting a new speed record for the Catalina-California crossing.
It was the same island, same coast, same distance, same cold body of water. The only difference between victory and defeat was her ability to see her goal. (story taken from “Better Than Good” by Zig Ziglar)
Today’s Life on Purpose Challenge:
Set a goal and then write it on a big paper or poster board and keep the end iit in sight. Keep “swimming” keep your eye on your goal because every second and every little action gets you that much closer to your desired results.
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Copyright © 2007 Becca Levie. All Rights Reserved. “Joy comes in finding and living your Life On Purpose.”—Becca Levie