Diana Nyad was the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage. She was 64 years old and it was her 5th attempt. She swam for 55 hours and covered 103 miles. She said she stopped thinking about the surface waves and wind and sickness and started to imagine, with her left hand pushing Cuba away and with her right hand bringing Florida closer! She thought of all the inspiring people that she came across throughout the tough swim. She said her mantra for that year was ‘Find a way. You don’t like it, it’s not doing well, find a way’.
‘”I got three messages,” an exhausted and happy Nyad told reporters. Her face was sunburned and swollen.
“One is we should never, ever give up. Two is you never are too old to chase your dreams. Three is it looks like a solitary sport, but it’s a team,” she said.’ (CNN)
What an inspiration this woman is to the world. She first attempted this 30 years ago and failed but never gave up on her dream. We all get caught up in life, working, living, getting through each day and each week, each month, and the months, as we know, quickly slip into years. But what are we working toward? Do we have a goal, a vision or a dream to achieve or are we just drifting or floating in life’s ocean.
Diana wanted to be an inspiration to others, I think she has achieved that goal. We must realise that our goal or goals, don’t have to be forgotten because the time is not right. It may not be something we can do right now, but it can be something to work towards for the future. The old saying ‘it’s not the destination but the journey that matters’ is one to remember. We want it all now, but it’s often not possible. The lesson Diana teaches us is to never give up and walk away. Keep that dream tucked away and continue to dream, when the time is right we will know and be brave enough to try again and again and again if necessary.
Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc, in his famous ‘Connecting the dots’ speech to Stanford University (Commencement speech) mentioned that everything came together for him in the end, he didn’t know at the time, but he was making dots and the dots all joined together, but first you must find what you love.
‘Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.’ Steve Jobs
So we must find something we love and excel at, or something we want more than anything, and figure out ways to get to our goal. If it doesn’t work out, all is not lost, there are many routes that can be taken, and the beauty of reaching your goal in the end will be in knowing all along that you found your way, and you enjoyed the journey. Never Give Up. Find a way.