Tuesday Inspiration: Dale Webster’s Endless Summer
From Sports Illustrated:
Dale Webster’s Endless Summer
by Chris Ballard
“What does it mean to give your life to your sport? Ask Dale Webster. Every day for the last 32 years, every single day, he has surfed. He heads out each morning in Bodega Bay, a blustery town on the northern California coast, and paddles into the 50° water, a worn-out 59-year-old in a worn-out wet suit. He’s caught waves during howling storms, while wracked by kidney stones and, once, within snapping distance of a Volvo-sized great white ("never paddled so hard in my life,” he says)…
...Why do all this? It began “as an incredible excuse to get stoked,” as Webster puts it. A storm stirred up prodigious waves on Sept. 3, 1975, and Webster began surfing daily. In 1976, a leap year, it occurred to him: Why not keep going until Feb. 29 of another leap year, 2004? In a world in which diets are successful if they last six months, it was a preposterously ambitious goal. “People thought I was crazy,” says Webster, and they were probably right.”
Crazy or not, Dale stuck to his dream with the dedication, attitude and motivation necessary to accomplish his goal. And yet, as this article poignantly tells it, there is always sacrifice involved in the pursuit of an objective. And sometimes the price of Dale’s kind of single mindedness is too steep.
What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!
Leave a comment
kc’s photos
kc tv
kc’s blogroll
- Paulo Coelho » The classic book 'The Alchemist' was my entrée to the world of Paulo Coehlo. Then, through Google Alerts, Paulo reached out to me to thank me for giving his book to my audiences. Now, we plan to collaborate on projects that inspire the world.
- African Sports Outreach International » "My Nike colleague and fellow soccer fanatic, Paul Goodrich’s program which provides uniforms, soccer match play and hope to youth in Southern and West Africa.
- Idea Sandbox » “Paul Williams is a former Starbucks creative and the founder of the Idea Sandbox, an international marketing firm specializing in better ideas through Remarkability, Creative Problem Solving, and Brand Building.”
- Priscilla McIntire » "Priscilla McIntire, formerly Priscilla Palmer, is a life coach specializing in personal development who I was introduced to through the blogosphere.
- Tom Peters! » Tom is the "uber-guru" of management and inventor of the enormous "management guru industry." I was introduced to Tom through his books and his article in Fast Company magazine, 'The Brand Called You.'
kc’s Blog Search
kc’s archives
Rules of the Red Rubber Ball
by Kevin Carroll
Order from the Katalyst Shop and 10% of your order goes to an organization for social change.
More >
It is a pleasure to join the ESPN community as a contributor and provocateur around Sports for Social Change. I want to hear from anyone that thinks sports has the ability to impact a community or an individual in a positive way.
Go to ESPN and join the conversation!
