目標是人生的方向

1. On the early morning of July 4th， 1952， on the island of Santa Catalina， 21 miles west of the coast of California， 34-year-old Florence Chadwick jumped into the Pacific Ocean and swam towards the coast. If she succeeded， she would be the first woman to swim across the channel.

1952年7月4日清晨，加利福尼亞海岸以西21英里的圣卡塔利娜島上，34歲的費羅倫絲·查德威克跳進太平洋，開始向加州海岸游去。要是成功了，她就是第一個游過這個海峽的女性。

2. That morning， the thick fog made her see nothing， even the boat that escorted1 her. Many hours passed and thousands of people watched her on TV. The sharks got close to her a few times， but were frightened away by the shots. She continued. In the past， the big problem for her was not tiredness but freezing sea water.

那天早晨，霧很大，她連護送她的船都幾乎看不到。時間一個鐘頭一個鐘頭過去，千千萬萬人在電視上注視著她。有幾次，鯊魚靠近了她，被人開槍嚇跑了。她繼續游著。以往，她的最大問題不是疲勞，而是刺骨的海水。

3. Fifteen hours later， she was numb2 with cold. Her mother and the coach told her not to give up. She looked towards the California Coast， but saw nothing but the thick fog. She knew she could not go on， so she asked people to pull her onto the boat.

15個鐘頭之后，她被凍得渾身發麻。她的母親和教練叫她不要放棄。但她朝加州海岸望去，除了迷霧什么也看不到。她知道自己不能再游了，就叫人拉她上船。

4. In the boat， she felt warmer. She said to the reporter without thinking， “To tell you the truth， if I had seen the land， I would have gone on.” The place she was pulled onto the boat was only half a mile from the coast of California.

上船后，她漸漸覺得暖和多了。她不假思索地對記者說：“說實在的，如果當時我看見陸地，也許我能堅持下來。”人們拉她上船的地點，離加州海岸只有半英里！

5. When she talked about this， she said the real thing made her give up was not tiredness or coldness but that she could not see the aim in the thick fog.

當她向人們談起這次經歷時，她說，真正令她半途而廢的不是疲勞，也不是寒冷，而是因為在迷霧中看不到目標。

6. Two months later， she swam across the same channel successfully. She was not only the first woman to swim across the Channel of Santa Catalina but also about 2 hours faster than men’s record. She was a good swimmer， but she still needed the aim to finish her task with courage.

2個月之后，她成功地游過了同一個海峽。她不但是第一位游過圣卡塔利娜海峽的女性，而且比男子的紀錄還快了大約兩個鐘頭。查德威克雖然是個游泳健將，但也要看見目標，才能鼓足干勁完成任務。

感悟：當你規劃自己的成功時，千萬別低估了制定可行性目標的重要性。許多人埋頭苦干，卻不知所為何來，到頭來發現成功的階梯搭錯了方向，為時已晚。所以，我們必須掌握真正的方向，擬定可行性目標，澄明思想，凝聚繼續向前的力量。