Your Own “Independence Day”
“If I could have seen land, I know I could have made it.”
Those words, “If I could have seen land, I know I could have made it,” were spoken by Florence Chadwick after one of the most remarkable near-misses in sports history. Her story is worth telling on any day. But on Independence Day, it carries a little extra weight.
On July 4th, 1952, Florence Chadwick stepped into the icy water with a goal: to be the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel, that 21-mile stretch from Catalina Island to the coast of California. She had already become the first woman to swim the English Channel both ways, so this wasn’t uncharted territory for her.
The water was bitterly cold. The fog was so thick she could barely see her hand in front of her face. Boats flanked her on both sides, carrying her mother and riflemen prepared to fire at any sharks that got too close. Fifteen hours in, she was still going.
Then the cold won.
One hour later, Florence begged to be pulled from the water. When the fog lifted, she saw what it had been hiding: Florence had been less than a half mile from shore.
The Fog Has a Name
In an interview afterward, Florence said, “Look, I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen land, I know I could have made it.” And without that visible target, she couldn’t hold on.
Most of us know that feeling.
The fog in our own lives takes different forms. Sometimes it’s distraction. Sometimes it’s poor planning. Sometimes it’s the quiet, creeping doubt that makes us wonder if we’re even heading in the right direction. And sometimes, we’re so close to where we’re going, and we don’t even know it. We give up right before the fog lifts.
Can you remember a time when things weren’t going so well? You were ready to blow “Taps” over the whole thing. And then something happened, and you could see “land” so clearly. You knew exactly the destination and how far it was. Did that clarity also make clear the next step toward getting there and give you the motivation to get started?
Declare Your Own Independence
This article publishes near what we in the United States call “Independence Day,” and it’s not a bad day to declare our own independence.
Independence from things that don’t matter.
Independence from concern over other people’s opinions when they really don’t know what they’re talking about.
Independence from procrastination.
Independence from wasting one more day.
When you know the destination, and you know why it matters, the path gets clearer.
Failure Provides the Chance to Try Again
Incidentally, Florence Chadwick did try again two months later. The water was just as cold. The fog was just as dense. But this time, something was different.
She kept swimming, seeing land in her mind’s eye. Not only did she become the first woman to ever complete the Catalina Channel crossing, but she beat the men’s record by two hours.
The fog hadn’t changed. Florence changed.
On the other side of every fog, there’s land. The goal is still there. The shore is still there. The question is whether you can hold on long enough to see it.
Happy Independence Day — in more ways than one.
If you enjoyed what you read, I recorded it as a video which released on Independence Day in 2023.
Frank Buck is the author of the books Get Organized! and Get Organized Digitally! “Global Gurus Top 30” named him #1 in the Time Management category four years in a row. Dr. Buck speaks throughout the United States and internationally about organization and time management. You can reach him through his website: FrankBuck.org. Follow him on all social media channels at Linktr.ee/DrFrankBuck.
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