The Other Shore

Diana Nyad is one of those people put on Planet Earth to make the rest of us look lazy.

At age 62, Nyad recently attempted for the third time to swim the 103 nautical miles from Cuba to Florida.

Her first two attempts ended short of the goal. She met with mishaps such as bad storms, an asthma attack and a shoulder injury.
This time, things started out a lot more encouraging. A shark that threatened to put a stop to her swim got rebuffed by her helpful team. Her shoulder was strong; she was averaging fifty strokes a minute.

Could she do it?

I was eager to find out. Ever since I hit 40 last year, I have been looking for stories like Nyad's to let me know I'm really not over the hill (yet). For example, I was captivated by Brett Favre's "post-40" journey. In 2009, the year he turned 40, Favre quarterbacked the Minnesota Vikings to the playoffs—an amazing accomplishment at any age.

The next year he suffered a concussion late in the season and retired for good. But I wouldn't be surprised if he tackled some other physical feat soon. Meanwhile, his foundation, Favre4Hope, is more active than ever supporting cancer-fighting charities in Mississippi and Wisconsin. (I hope Packer fans will continue to forgive him for playing for their rivals and look on the positive things he's done for them and their state.)

Nyad's goal loomed at least as large as Favre's. In addition to the physical demands with such a challenge, there are the psychological impediments that ring in your head: You can't be serious. You can't do this; you're too old. You're past your prime. You might die doing this.

You simply can't.

It's not just age, of course, that can be a barrier for us. Illness, accidents, family hardship, a bad economy … some things are beyond our control or our ability to anticipate. Often they leave us with a crisis of confidence. We don't think we can move forward—again. We'd like to give up. We certainly don't blame those who decide to pack it in and retire early.

Will Rivera-Fantauzzi had every right to give up. Injured during Navy boot camp, he had to abandon his dream of a military career before it barely got started. He earned a degree—but still couldn't find a job. Even though he had a passion for IT—as a hobby, he loved building computers and building websites—Will couldn't seem to complete his swim to the career field he loved.

Will brought that determination to the Creating IT Futures Foundation and earned the certifications he needed to distinguish himself. Now he's working full-time in the IT field. "It's good to know you can," says Will now, who admits that he had to overcome a lot of discouragement along the way. (I had the pleasure of spending two days with Will this past summer while he was working in California. Watch a short video about his story.)

Diana Nyad had to abandon her latest swim, this time due to jellyfish attacks. She swam for quite a while after the stings, only climbing out of the water after swimming 67 miles. Something else you might know about her: Though Nyad had an amazing career as a long-distance swimmer in her 20s, her latest attempt came after more than 30 years without swimming a single stroke.

Some will say that Nyad didn't succeed. I think it's quite clear that she did. What if her real purpose was not to swim a certain number of miles in the ocean, but to inspire the rest of us on our own journeys? She said as much yesterday on her website: "But for each of us, isn't life about determining your own finish line? This journey has always been about reaching your own other shore no matter what it is, and that dream continues."