A look back in history today shows us something much different than we expect. The excerpt, verbatim:
“1519 Spanish expedition led by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan sets off on the 1st successful circumnavigation of the globe (Magellan killed on route)”
First, let’s consider the event itself. On September 20, 1519, a long dang time ago, a Spanish expedition set sail. Magellan’s boats. Five of them were sponsored by the Spanish Monarchy, specifically King Charles I. Fancy Schmancy. Those five boats had an official name: the “Armada de Molucca.” Their intent was to reach the Spice Islands (the Maluku Islands, in present-day Indonesia). So, off they went, into the wild blue yonder.
The fleet initially consisted of about 270 men. The expedition faced numerous hardships. Once they set sail, the challenges mounted, including mutinies, starvation, scurvy, storms, and hostile encounters with indigenous people and Portuguese ships. So. Not your Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.
But here is the deal. When they reached the Philippines, the natives living there were not happy to see them. In history accounts, those natives were termed “hostile.” And so it went.
Let’s just say they disagreed on who should be there and who should not. In fact, the natives wanted Magellan off their island so badly that they killed him. That was in 1521.
That left second-in-command, Juan Sebastián Elcano to take over the “Armada de Molucca.” The expedition finally reached the Spice Islands. Elcano then decided to return to Spain across the Indian Ocean and up the Atlantic Ocean. Rooooaaaad Triiiippppp. And this detour resulted in the first circumnavigation of the world in 1522.
Now, back to the original excerpt, which said they set off on the first successful navigation of the globe.
There is an old saying that goes: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Equally, too, is success.
While the journey was successful for many people, it was not so successful for Magellan. Unless, of course, he was planning his demise from the get-go. Which I doubt.
No. Success depends on where you are standing. It depends on personal standards. One person’s success today might be to take one step during physical therapy, unassisted, after a tragic injury. Another’s a success, on this same day, might be to run a marathon in under two and a half hours.
Someone else may find success in walking through the garden and taking notice of the amazing flowers, butterflies, and birds, which have gathered there to enjoy the garden too.
Our society places its standards of success on monetary gains, mostly. The world, for a long time, had been running on money. It has been this way for so long that it is hard to imagine any other possible way.
But there are other ways to succeed. Finding success means finding your heart. It means to fulfill your soul. And that can be anything imaginable, anything under the sun.
If it is knitting sweaters with the same size arms, then do just that. Maybe you would rather raise Alpacas. That should be your quest.
Perhaps your life’s mission is to be kind in every opportunity you get. Then score that goal. Success is our’s to measure, and no one else.
Most of all, be good to yourself today as you set sail in your direction. Around the globe and back again.
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“Nothing happens unless first, we dream.”
— Carl Sandburg
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“Follow your dreams. They know the way.”
— Kobe Yamada
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“Just Be. After all, we are human beings. Not human doings.”
— Unknown
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Setting sail to success. Or something. It just depends.
