Woman of Strength

Cornel Warren

Proverbs 31:25 Printable Wall Art

     Today's Woman of Strength is a lady named Diana Nyad. At 64 years old, she became the first confirmed person to swim from Cuba to Florida in a journey that lasted 53 hours. You can hear her describe the experience here as she addresses the TED Talk crowd in a talk titled "Never, Ever Give Up." 
​     There is no better advice for leaders than the charge to persevere. DO NOT GIVE UP. Diana Nyad was able to swim 110 miles in one shot. She didn't sleep. She didn't get on a boat and rest. She swam and swam and swam. She persisted through hypothermia, hallucination and fatigue, and focused on what she knew in her heart she could achieve. 
       Nyad did what the world's best swimmers have not been able to do since people began attempts at swimming the Gulf in 1950. But it took her all. Diana did not succeed on her first try. She trained for years and tried to complete the same swim four times prior to succeeding in September of 2013. After four failures she didn't give up. She didn't settle back and say, "It can't be done." She undertook the journey again. She did training swims that ranged between 15 and 35 hours each. She continued on. She never gave up, and because of that she became the first person in       history to swim such a distance. 


​I encourage you to watch the video below. Her final comment was, to me, the most powerful: FIND A WAY.

That is the sign of a true leader. If you are faced with a challenge, find a way to get through it. Diana Nyad LITERALLY swam through shark infested waters to reach the horizon she was chasing. She did not give up after the first couple attempts ended in failure. She continued pushing herself and her team. She continued striving and that is how she attained her goal. 

KEY POINTS:

• Strong women persevere through challenges to achieve their goals
• Strong women find a way when all the odds are against them

As ladies, we are faced with proverbial "shark infested waters" every day. What sets us apart as leaders is how we respond. Do we persevere against all odds? Do we take responsibility for the situations we find ourselves in and forge a way out? Or do we watch our circumstances happen around us? Do we take the path of least resistance? 

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Proverbs 31:25 "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come"