William Douglas' Childhood Experience of nearly Drowning would affect him later

William Douglas' childhood experience of nearly drowning in the YMCA pool in Yakima affected him as an adult. It was a handicap that would prevent him from enjoying his outdoor's activities of hiking in the mountains, canoeing, fishing for landlocked Salmon and wading in the rivers and lakes.

Our childhood experiences often determine the kind of adults we become. Douglas' fear of water hampered his enjoyment of outdoor's activities. He realised that he could not go on living with his childhood fear of water. Sometimes our experiences during childhood might put into us irrational fears, phobias that gain control over our personalities, attitudes and beliefs.

Douglas wanted to do something about overcoming this debilitating fear of water so he hired the services of a swimming instructor so that he could train to be a swimmer. However he was not done when the training ended so he decided to swim solo in the swimming pool, Lake Wentworth and Warm Lake. This was because he wanted to face his fear, challenge it and take it out of his life. His old fear returned while swimming solo in the swimming pool and Lake Wentworth. Each time the fear appeared he challenged it and it fled.
The moral of the lesson, biography at least is that handicaps can be overcome in life through persistence and hard work. Douglas was able to cast away the handicap that the fear of water had imposed on him. The negativity of childhood experiences can be nullified through conscious effort.