Keep Going: You Never Know How Close You Are

Lynne Cox was a phenomenal swimmer. In 1972, at the age of fifteen, she set the world record for swimming the English Channel. Her record was broken just three weeks later, but Cox returned to England the following year and regained the title.

Her next conquest would be the Catalina Channel, near her southern California home. She swam it when she was fourteen, but decided to do it again three years later. She came from a very athletic family, and her brother held the overall record for this 22-mile swim.

On September 9, 1974, Cox set out to swim from Catalina Island to the mainland. It was a dark, eerie night, with fog hanging low over the water. As the swim wore on, Lynne began to lose her confidence. In a very short period of time, a thick layer of fog blanketed the area. The support boat lost contact with her, and began to circle in search of her. To the relief of everyone involved, she was finally found. Lynne was disoriented, and distraught. She gave up immediately, and climbed into the boat.?

Cox was extremely disappointed. What she didn’t realize was that she stopped just 150 yards from the shore. In clear weather, this would have been obvious, and she would have completed the swim. Not seeing the shore, though, she fell short of completing her goal.

How many times have you stopped short of reaching your goal, only to discover that you were almost there? When has the “dense fog” prevented you from finishing?

The pursuit of a goal can be wearing as time goes on. We start out enthusiastically, believing in our ability to achieve our desired outcome. We make progress, and things seem to be going well.

Then, the obstacles arise. The fog comes. Something happens, and we become disappointed, distracted or frustrated. Instead of focusing on the achievement of the goal, our attention turns to the obstacle. Then, we stop—falling short of the goal.

What we often don’t realize is that we were so close to the finish line, so close to achieving our goal, when we stopped. Had we just pressed on, just continued doing what we were doing right up to the point when we stopped, we would in fact have achieved our goal.?

The next time you feel alone and frustrated about where you are in proximity to your goal, just remember how close Lynne Cox was when she stopped. Press on toward the goal, even when you temporarily lose sight of it.