“With all my love I hugged my children tightly and told them: “I am very lucky to have you here by my side, you are my engine. This swim goes for both of you guys, your fuel fills my tank and makes me strong. Your love and your strength will enable me to keep on all the way”. The three of us hugged and after we hugged Andrea said: “Mom, I am not sure what it is you are going to do out there, but you pull this one off, and finish ok!”

(From the book “Dias Azules” (Water Days).- Mariel Hawley)

I have thought, many times, in these words and I am convinced that Andrea, my daughter, who back then was only ten years old, commended me to finish my swim in order for her  to be able to share it, knowing she was a part of it. If at some point I doubted finishing my English Channel crossing, she saw further than I could see. These words have become a lesson in my life, first of all because I should not doubt what I am about to accomplish, especially when I have worked so hard  to achieve it and secondly because I should have received such words not as a command but as an order, sometimes life presents us with situations that if we do not execute almost as if they were a martial order, there stands the chance we do not reach those goals. This is because when we receive an order, we do not question it and we simply do our work to accomplish it, just as my daughter ordered. Many hours later, in the middle of the sea, when I had being swimming for about nine hours and thought I was at the edge of my physical limit, I would remember her commend, her order and I would keep on swimming until I finished my crossing, which took 14 hours 33minutes!

Let’s not leave stuff unfinished, even if the situation becomes complicated, finishing means much more than crossing the line, signing a document, or closing a circle, it means that the command was accomplished, the dream came true and that somebody else’s expectations get stronger with our goals, it can become a starting point for people that get inspired, to start their own path, by those achievements, so… Let’s finish!