Eyes on the Shore

By Steve Goodier

A story is told about a bloodhound chasing a stag. A fox crossed the path, so the hound chased the fox. After a while a rabbit crossed the path, so the hound chased it. Later, a mouse crossed the path and the hound chased the mouse into a hole. The hound began his hunt on the trail of a magnificent stag and ended up watching a mouse hole!

Not that there is anything wrong with spontaneity. Some of the most wonderful things have come into my life by beautiful accident. But there is also something to be said for knowing where we want to go.

Florence Chadwick learned the importance of keeping a goal in mind on July 4, 1952. She waded into the Pacific Ocean off Catalina Island and began swimming toward the California coast 26 miles away. The day was cold and her attendants drove off sharks throughout the journey. Florence had already swum the English Channel twice and, if she could finish today, she would be the first woman to have swum both. But after fifteen hours in the water, for the first and only time in her long-distance swimming career, she gave up and climbed into the escort boat. Others had urged her on, but in the fog they could not tell her how near she was to the coast. She later learned that she was less than half a mile from shore.

When asked by a reporter why she gave up, Florence replied: "It was the fog. If I could have seen land, I could have finished. But when you can't see your goal, you lose all sense of progress and you begin to give up."

On a warm, sunny day two months later Florence Chadwick swam the Catalina Channel, handily beating the men's record. Only when she kept her eyes on the shore did she eventually arrive there. Keeping that goal constantly in sight will get you where you want to go.

Personality Lab

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Understand Your Child

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Deal With It

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Are You a Decider?

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It Must be a Sign

I read my horoscope every day. That's right, each and every day. It's not the first thing I do when I wake up but my horoscope comes to me daily via email and so, out of pure habit, I continue to read and believe that alignment of the stars and planets have something to do with the outcome of my day.

Here's today's horoscope for me, an Aries:

Today you will finally start to see signs that your latest business or career plans are finally coming together! Once again, your drive for success has not let you down -- it's taken you to a really nice place in your life, and you have many options. Use this day as a sort of rest stop on the road to your goals, and kick back with one of your favorite people. Take a long lunch with them and talk about something other than what you have been working on for so long.

I continue to believe.