I heard a story today. It was about an open water swimmer, Florence Chadwick, who attempted to swim from the Catalina Islands to the coast of Southern California, a 15-mile distance, in the 1950’s.
A thick fog descended mid-swim and obscured her view of the shore she was swimming towards. Unable to see her destination she became fatigued, overwhelmed and began to doubt her abilities to finish the task.
She kept going for a while but eventually gave up and asked to be pulled into the accompanying boats. The fog lifted and she soon learned that she was less than a mile away from the shore, having swum over 14 miles already.
This story speaks to what so many of us go through. The doubt and overwhelm we experience when our vision is clouded and we can’t get a clear sense of where we are and how far we are from where we set out to go.
How many times have you given up right before your goal was about to come to fruition?
How many times did the last stretch of creation seem insurmountable?
How many times have you not even tried because you couldn’t see the entire path laid out before you?
Truth be told we rarely can see the ‘finish line’ in the midst of our path, let alone before we start out. Relationships, businesses, LIFE is more like a swim in a dense fog that lifts for a moment and shows you one or two steps then descends again in an embrace that clouds your senses.
So, what it is that sees you through?
Trust
Let your inner vision guide you and trust that no matter what you will create it. You don’t need to ‘see’ all the steps to get where you desire to go before you start out or in order to keep going. If you have that view point you may never even start your journey and the desire to give up mid-path may be a constant hurdle you have to overcome.
It’s the trust in yourself, your awareness of what’s required and your willingness to see it through that creates the foundation of your life path. It is like a fuel tank that sees you through when you are lost in a fog or just about to give up. Next time you are struggling ask “If I was trusting me and my inner vision what would I chose here?” Follow your awareness and keep going.
Don’t let Doubt Win
Doubt is a huge distractor. It eats up your energy. It keeps you focused on the negative. It freezes up your forward momentum. It kills your creative energy. What causes doubt mid-path? Uncertainty.
Instead of giving into doubt or fighting against it start to become comfortable with uncertainty. If you can gain comfort in not having everything figured or planned out, then the doubt will lessen and your inner compass will strengthen. Your inner vision will become clearer and you will start to see how relying and trusting that is what moves people ahead even when the outside path becomes obscured.
Never Stop
My publisher said the most brilliant thing to me yesterday. She was asking about my upcoming workshop and how many people I had attending it. I shyly admitted that in that moment I had only half the registration that I had set out to get. She looked at me and said very firmly, “But you are doing it. That’s the difference that makes someone successful. They just keep going.”
Trust yourself and your inner vision.
Do not let doubt win.
And most importantly never stop being and doing what you love.
It may look different then you expect it to — it often does.
It may show up quickly or take longer to develop then you desire.
It may push you into some uncomfortable spaces in your mind/body.
But just keep going.
P.S. A note about our swimmer friend Florence. Just two months after she gave up close to the finish line she tried it again. The same fog descended mid-swim. This time she didn’t give up. She kept the picture of the shore in her mind as she moved forward trusting that she would get there. And she did.
Originally published at laurenpolly.com.
Originally published at medium.com