A Committed Heart: A Reflection on The Traveler's Gift

In Andy Andrews' The Traveler's Gift, Christopher Columbus tells David Ponder, "Success requires the emotional balance of a committed heart."
That is such a powerful statement that I really feel the need to look at it word by word, analyzing it closely.

"Success"

I don't believe Cristobol Colon, to use his native pronunciation, really cared deeply about material success or its trappings.

Yes, there were untold riches in the land he was searching for, and yes, as captain of the expedition, he was entitled to a large share of the wealth. Finding the new world would have, and surely did, make Columbus a very rich man in worldly riches.

But Columbus was not looking for riches. He was looking for his new world.

Christopher Columbus had a belief, and he had a dream.

Christopher Columbus believed the world was round. This was an incredible, and incredibly dangerous, in some areas, belief to have. Everyone knew the world was flat, and that Columbus was going to sail right off the edge and go . . . who knew where? Who could know? It was preposterous. The world round. Ridiculous.

To go with his belief, Christopher Columbus also had a dream. The dream was to prove that the world was round by sailing west, reaching the new world in the east, and finding the only real treasure he was interested in - proof that his dream was worthwhile.

Success, for Christopher Columbus, meant achieving this dream. And, as we know, he made it, though not quite to the destination he intended.

"Requires"

This is a strong word Columbus used.

Success doesn't just kind of need this next big.

It wouldn't be useful or a handy thing to have.

Success REQUIRES this. Success is impossible without it.

If you do not possess this next quality, you will never succeed. It is absolutely impossible to succeed, except by accident, without this. It is required for success.

"The Emotional Balance"

Emotional balance? Emotional?

Success requires work, it requires knowing what needs to be done and how to do it. It requires serious mental determination.

Doesn't it?
What can emotional balance bring to the table?

It can bring the determination to keep sailing.

It can bring the perspective to know where to go and what to do.

It can bring the leadership skills necessary to make the arduous journey.

"Of a Committed Heart."

To me this is the easiest part. Only full commitment, a solid decision to go forward and only forward, creates the emotional balance required by success.

The way I see it, once you know what success requires, then you either have that, or you do not have it.

If you do not have it, you must get it. To get it, you must search out the qualities you need to add to your life. If you do not have emotional balance, it is because you do not have a committed heart.

If you do not have a committed heart, you must continue to ask yourself why not and answer yourself honestly until you have found the key to becoming committed. Then you will have the emotional balance that comes with the committed heart, and then you will have what success requires.

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Angie Dixon is a creativity expert and author of The Leonardo Trait: Living the Multipassionate Life. Get a free creativity kit at LeonardoTrait.com. Contact Angie at mailto:angie@LeonardoTrait.com

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