Columbus and his Legacy

Some words of wisdom from CHI’s Founder and President Tom Areton.

As every child knows, “In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue…” But why do we celebrate this self-taught, fearless, seafaring adventurer? After all, he wasn’t the first who discovered America (it was done in the 11th century by the Vikings), he was not the first who knew the world was spherical (the scientists knew this since Ptolemy) and he wasn’t even the first who sailed long distances (Bartolomeu Dias rounded the southern tip of Africa and the spice route to Asia was open for business). Due to his incomplete knowledge, he miscalculated distances, thinking Japan to be only 2,300 miles from the Canary Island, instead of 12,200! He estimated it to be closer to the Equator, on the level with Guinea in Africa. His faith in his abilities was strong – but he was just plain lucky there was America in-between Zhipangu (Japan) and the Canaries.

I admire Christopher Columbus, because he belongs to the long line of individuals who did not let a barrage of “no’s” stand in their way of achieving their goals and realize their dreams. John II, King of Portugal, Henry the VII, King of England, the leaders of Genoa and Venice, Ferdinand, the King of Aragon, Isabella, the Queen of Castile – they all turned him down, and not just once. He overcame the disappointment, regrouped and went at it again. When Isabella turned him down for the last time on the advice of her confessor, at Alcazar castle in Cordoba, Columbus vowed never to ask her again. As he was leaving the town on his donkey, Ferdinand intervened, dispatched after him and said “yes!”

Jack London, one of the greatest writers in the American literary Pantheon, was rejected more than 600 times before he penned White Fang and The Call of the Wild. Elvis Presley was told many times he had no talent and would never succeed. Albert Einstein, as a child, was considered stupid and was kicked out of school. Thomas Edison had more than 1,000 failed attempts at developing a lightbulb that worked. Michael Jordan was cut from his basketball team. When The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records in 1962, they were rejected because “guitar groups are on the way out.”

When Lilka and I started marketing CHI in Japan in 1980, dozens of schools and every agency we visited said “no” to our program. But at the end, there was one that said “yes.”

There is always “yes” at the edge of every horizon, if we are willing to sail the ocean blue. In celebrating Columbus we are celebrating the limitless possibilities that lie within each of us.