05 Sep Swimming With Sharks
DIANA NYAD AND LIVING FEARLESSLY
With dry, swollen lips, sunbaked skin, and barely enough strength to speak, 64-year-old Diana Nyad stumbled onto the shores of Key West, Florida and delivered a simple message to the spectators that lined the beach: “We should never, ever give up. You never are too old to chase your dreams.”
Diana Nyad has been chasing this dream for decades. She was 28 years old when she first tried to swim across the Florida Straits. She succeeded on September 2nd 2013 because she didn't give up and despite the grueling distance, the predator filled waters, and her advanced age, she didn’t let doubts and fears get in the way of her dream.
When one person breaks a vibrational barrier, a potent energy shift happens. A great achievement can ignite a wide world of possibility. No one thought a four-minute mile could be run until it was for the first time and once accomplished, the floodgates opened and the race was on. Why? Because an unprecedented triumph often provokes a vibrational paradigm shift with far reaching effects. By swimming 102 miles in 53 hours with no protection, no shark cage, and the threat of stinging jellyfish, Nyad inspired baby boomers and younger generations alike to take a hard look at aspirations and challenges they deem “impossible.” Suddenly every 64-year old woman is questioning what she's doing with her life. In fact, everyone is.
Dr. Oz has said, “you have the same level of vitality at 17 as you do at 64.” If that’s true, what is holding us back from our living the life of our dreams? Why are we not facing our own vibrational sharks and jellyfish? We don’t dive in headlong because we fear what lurks in the deep, dark water. We're afraid of what we can't see, so we make up stories based on our assumptions and worse case scenarios. It's our own limiting ideas, beliefs, and mental constructs around those fears that often stop us short of our goals or prohibit us from daring to dream about them at all.
Nyad said her mantra throughout the swim was “find a way.” Referring to the journey, she stated, “It doesn't matter what you come up against because none of it's going to be pleasant. All of us suffer heartache. All of us suffer difficulties in our lives. And if you say to yourself 'find a way,' you'll make it through.”
When we shift our energy from fear to love, we find our way. There is training involved and we may have to make multiple attempts, but our glorious, fearless life is waiting- bursting at the seams with possibility on the other side of doubt and trepidation. Your life is limitless and when you face your fear and let it wash over you, you stumble to the finish line victorious and with a deeper understanding of your own fortitude, happiness, and capability.
Our journey toward living fearlessly may be choppy at times, but we keep swimming with strength and love. Nyad spoke about how the dawn light on the water was so beautiful that it helped carry her forward. “It's not all pain,” she said. “There's a lot of joy.”
