Nothing could have prepared me for what I was to face between the hours of 4:00 to 5:30 pm.
Looking back, it would certainly be a downright injustice to fail to credit the book whose words remain fresh in my mind, although read lang syne.
I am talking about one of the greatest motivational books ever put to press.
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.
Have you ever had a moment something got so unjustifiably, immoderately toilsome? So hard you were all for throwing in the towel? Abandoning the seemingly Herculean challenge?
Trust me when I say this: If there was ever such a time, it was this evening.
The water, cold and numbing, felt in itself not like a fluid, but like a thick volume of clay, and I was buried in it. It stands to reason that paddling through was like braving a tremendous load on my back.
It felt almost pointless, the struggling and scrambling that amounted to but negligible movements; and as a swimmer, you can't help but feel an inward galling bitterness, a bitterness so scorching it could burn your throat, or at least suck it dry of all moisture.
And to think that I was the very last person, even after the toddlers had finished, to exit the pool - the taunting, intimidating water body almost certainly laughing behind my back, as I, the pathetic, sloth-paced, excuse of a natator, feebly slithered out.
However, reflecting now, I did, albeit the apparent failure, march off, head high, with the firm self-assurance that I had indeed accomplished a most notable milestone.
"Never give up."
These were the three simple yet admittedly cliché words that saw me through the mammoth task. And they are the very same words that Outliers is based upon. After today, I reckon Gladwell may as well subsume me to his choice list of success stories.
Although minor, it was a noteworthy achievement- one that will see me through countless more backbreaking evenings, and especially through the ever bone-chilling Swim Meets.
And so in your case, whatever it may be, simply believe in the three magic words.
After all, it won't cost you a thing.
Looking back, it would certainly be a downright injustice to fail to credit the book whose words remain fresh in my mind, although read lang syne.
I am talking about one of the greatest motivational books ever put to press.
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.
Have you ever had a moment something got so unjustifiably, immoderately toilsome? So hard you were all for throwing in the towel? Abandoning the seemingly Herculean challenge?
Trust me when I say this: If there was ever such a time, it was this evening.
The water, cold and numbing, felt in itself not like a fluid, but like a thick volume of clay, and I was buried in it. It stands to reason that paddling through was like braving a tremendous load on my back.
It felt almost pointless, the struggling and scrambling that amounted to but negligible movements; and as a swimmer, you can't help but feel an inward galling bitterness, a bitterness so scorching it could burn your throat, or at least suck it dry of all moisture.
And to think that I was the very last person, even after the toddlers had finished, to exit the pool - the taunting, intimidating water body almost certainly laughing behind my back, as I, the pathetic, sloth-paced, excuse of a natator, feebly slithered out.
However, reflecting now, I did, albeit the apparent failure, march off, head high, with the firm self-assurance that I had indeed accomplished a most notable milestone.
"Never give up."
These were the three simple yet admittedly cliché words that saw me through the mammoth task. And they are the very same words that Outliers is based upon. After today, I reckon Gladwell may as well subsume me to his choice list of success stories.
Although minor, it was a noteworthy achievement- one that will see me through countless more backbreaking evenings, and especially through the ever bone-chilling Swim Meets.
And so in your case, whatever it may be, simply believe in the three magic words.
After all, it won't cost you a thing.
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