I love good inspirational quotes and stories and find they motivate me and lift me up when I’m feeling stalled and down. I recently watched the movie Nyad, released 2023 on Netflix. The film is based on the memoir written by Diana Nyad, Find a Way (June 2016). Not sure if I would enjoy the movie, I remained enthralled from the first opening scenes.
The true story features 60-year-old Diana Nyad, who revisited her dream of swimming the 110-mile stretch of the Florida Straits from Havana Cuba to Key West Florida. When she was 28 years old, Nyad originally attempted the crossing in 1978 but winds started pushing her off course, preventing her from completing it. During her career as a young swimmer, in previous competitions and endeavors, she earned membership in the U.S. National Women’s Sports Hall of Fame and the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.
In the movie, they showed her four failed additional attempts, including the many obstacles Nyad had to overcome. While there were sharks, it also showed her battling severe and almost deadly box jellyfish stings. Her grit carried her to a fifth and final attempt where she realized her dream.
With each attempt came challenges with her team, and in her relationship with her best friend and coach, Bonnie Stoll. It surprised me though that everyone in her team stuck with her through all attempts. Sometimes in life, those we need the most disappear when challenges become too heavy or continue too long.
At 64, during her fifth attempt, Nyad spent 53 hours in the water enduring severe winds and vomiting from swallowing seawater, but with a swollen face and mouth, she walked onto the shore in Key West on September 2, 2013. She became the first person to marathon swim non-stop from Cuba to Florida. However, her attempt had some criticism and controversy because there were no defined rules ahead of the swim. She wore protective goggles and a protection mask and suit, which sometimes meant she needed aid when taking it on and off, and was therefore ‘assisted’ no matter how briefly on the swim to remove the gear.
I don’t think any rules should’ve mattered. With dedication to self, willpower, and grit, Nyad completed something no one else has accomplished.
The moment that caught me (spoiler alert here) was the end of the movie when she held up a finger for each point. She said:
We should never give up.
You’re never too old to chase your dreams.
It looks like a solitary sport, but it’s a team.
I can’t equate what Nyad did to anything I’ve ever done in my life, but I believe her message can carry weight with any goal a person wishes to accomplish. Her story is inspirational. She wanted to do the swim, and nothing would stop her.
When a person approaches a certain age, say well over 50, it’s almost like society declares one is—dare I say it—too old (gasp.)
I’m an author and have written a full-length novel which I’m submitting to agents and publishers. I read one forum where someone asked, “Is it too old to be published at 40?” After reading that I almost choked on my tea. People get university degrees at 70, 80 and 90. Just because one looks ‘aged’ doesn’t mean they are done with whatever dream they wish to pursue, and it would be amazing if society recognized this.
I’m going to continue my dream of writing and publishing my recent works no matter how long it takes. It’s amazing how many avenues are available now to accomplish this desire. I won’t give up. Writing is solitary, but there are resources that help us writers feel not so alone. I attend writers’ conferences, I’m a member of writers’ groups, societies, and guilds, work with editors and beta readers, seek feedback, and finally share with readers. I write alone, but there is a team behind me.
No matter the path or goal, pursue your dreams. Cross those invisible waters, survive unknown challenges from beneath the depths, keep trying, and solicit aid from your team whenever necessary. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, just keep going—Nyad did.