# 35

In life, as in football, you won't go far unless you know where the goal posts are. JC Penney

On a foggy morning in July 1952, Florence Chadwick waded into the chilly waters off of Catalina Island. Her goal? To swim the channel to the California coast.

The water was numbing cold that day. The fog was so thick that she could barely see the boats that were accompanying her. Several times, a rifle was fired to scare away sharks that approached her.

She swam for more than fifteen hours before she asked to be taken out of the water. Her trainer tried to encourage her to swim on since they were so close to land.

Florence was not a stranger to long-distance swimming. She was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. But that day, she was discouraged. When she looked ahead all she could see was fog. Florence gave up only one-half mile from her goal!

Later, she said, "I'm not excusing myself, but if I could have seen the land, I might have made it." It wasn't the cold water, exhaustion, or fear that caused Florence to fail that day. It was the fog. Two month later, Florence Chadwick swan the California channel and set a new speed record.

Keep your goals in sight today and press on. You may be much closer to fulfilling them than you realize!

If life knocks you flat on your back....just tell yourself that things are looking up! Ziggy

Our basketball season came to an end last Saturday night. We lost a hard fought four-point decision in the first round of the Georgia State playoffs. Our players, (out-manned, and out-sized as they had been all season) went out with the fight they had shown all season long.

To quote General George S. Patton, "If a man had done his best, what else is there?"

Contact Tom at: tomhughes@motivationNmore.com

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