Chris Bertish made history this month. One day at a time. One stroke at a time. He did what many would consider impossible. Chris Bertish, a world champion big wave surfer from South Africa, recently completed a trans-Atlantic journey on a 20-foot stand-up paddleboard. Yes, that’s right. On a paddleboard. Across the Atlantic Ocean. Alone. He made the decision. He made the plan. He believed it was possible. And then he did it…through the power of his own mind, through the power of his own thoughts.
Bertish made the journey as a way to raise money for charity and test the limits of possibility. His motto is “Dream it, See it, Believe it, Achieve it.” The Lunchbox Fund, Operation Smile, and Signature of Hope were the three main beneficiaries of the reported $6 million raised by this amazing journey. When we are inspired to do for others, we are fueled by more power and determination. The goal becomes bigger than the individual. Success matters more.
The journey from Morocco’s Agadir Harbor, to Antigua’s English Harbor took ninety three days. It is estimated that to travel the distance of 4,050 miles, 2,088,000 paddle strokes were required. To do this, it was necessary to consume 8,000-10,000 calories per day. The average distance traveled every day was 44 miles. More than a marathon. Every day. For ninety three days.
Bertish said, “This whole project is about breaking boundaries and redefining what is possible. Ninety-five percent of the world thought it was impossible. The words ‘impossible’ and ‘can’t’ are motivators for me to find solutions, get creative and make the impossible possible.” You decide what is possible in your life. You decide what your limits are. And it is your choice to break those limits. Anything is possible if you believe it is possible.
As you can imagine, there were challenges along the way. More than a dozen things broke and needed to be jury-rigged. And remember the repairs needed to be done in treacherous conditions, including a couple of close encounters with sharks and 20-foot seas. One of the biggest challenges came when the solar panels which allowed him to make fresh drinking water stopped working properly. Unable to make the three gallons of water needed to survive on a daily basis, he said “I had to train my body to survive on a gallon to a gallon and a half of water each day. That way, I could manage the other systems that would keep me alive, like powering the automatic identification systems so giant tankers could see me and wouldn’t run me over in the middle of the night.” The body is a reflection of your subconscious mind. Through mindfulness and meditative thought you can cause changes in your body functions, when you believe you can.
In the 1980’s, Dr. Herbert Benson did studies on the mind-body connection. His research showed that highly trained Tibetan monks were able to control their body temperature by using the power of their mind. Through deep concentration, the monks were able to generate enough heat that they were able to dry wet blankets with their body heat. The meditating monks could increase the temperature of their fingers and toes by as much as 46.94 °F. Like the Tibetan monks, Indian yogis are also able to manipulate their physiological processes. Research done in 1936 showed that yogis were able to slow their heart rate down so slow that it was only detectable with an EKG. And of course you are aware of the placebo effect. It is so widely accepted as fact that most medical tests use it as a way of proving if a drug works on its own or because people “think” it works. If we think it works, it does. Our body responds physiologically, producing real biological effects, as a reaction to a belief or an inert substance. An amusing study was done by a group of Princeton students. The experimenters served non-alcoholic O’Douls at a keg party then watched as their guests acted as if they were drinking regular beer. Generally behaving as if they were drunk, they acted silly, slurred their words and staggered around. Their belief affected their body’s reactions and their behavior. Bertish reinforces this when he says, “What I find fascinating about adventure is it teaches you about your limits and shows you that you can push your body to overcome things that most people think aren’t humanly possible. It makes you realize how incredible the human body is if you teach it to do something and shift the normality of what it’s expected to do.”
There were multiple life-threatening low-points, “where it was about having the right mental attitude to stay strong and not fall apart and just endure every hour, every day, every night … night after night, stroke after stroke, for 93 days straight’. Bertish says, “How did I get through it? It was all about going stroke-by-stroke, just getting through the next hour, the next day, the next night, the next storm. If you stay focused on what is happening right in front of you and never give up, you’ll eventually make it to your goal.” Success happens when you stay in the now moment. We can not be present and aware if we are thinking about something that happened in the past or what might happen in the future. The now moment is the moment of power…the moment of creation.
So is there something “impossible” that you would like to accomplish? What’s your excuse? What do you need to motivate yourself? Perhaps there is a charity worth your support. Perhaps there is challenge you want to give to yourself. What are your limits? Who created them? There are no limits. There are only limited thoughts. Chris Bertish has decided to embrace “limitless living. We can achieve, explore and do anything we want in life.” I congratulate and applaud Chris Bertish on this amazing achievement; not only for his own personal goal, but for the recipients of his charitable giving. He is absolute proof that The Mind Matters!!!