Every second Monday of October federal offices and many schools close to celebrate Christopher Columbus’ arrival to the New World in 1492. The Italian explorer sailed under the Spanish King and Queen, Ferdinand and Isabella. While believing he had reached China or India, he actually landed in the Bahamas. Several return trips later, he understood that he had found new territory. President Franklin D. Roosevelt made Columbus Day a federal holiday in 1937. This came over 100 years after the first Columbus Day was celebrated in 1892 in New York. We can be grateful for the spirit of exploration that lived in Columbus and other trailblazers. Below are several of my favorite quotes honoring exploration.

One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do. –Henry Ford, American Industrialist

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. -André Gide, French Author, Noble Prize Winner

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience. -Eleanor Roosevelt, Former First Lady, Activist

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. –Lao Tzu, Chinese Philosopher, Poet

The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams. -Oprah Winfrey, TV Personality, Actress, Philanthropist

Be a leader, like these explorers, and move to action TODAY.