The essence
Growth requires courage
You can compare it to the mythological story of Odysseus in the epic story The Odyssey by Homer. It takes courage to face — and overcome — the full range of challenges a person can encounter. The countless film adaptations show how timeless that journey is. Yet the poem by K.P. Kavafis, written in response to this epic, resonates with me more.
Why?
Because it captures the essence of what a learning journey truly is: a path that isn’t defined by speed or destination, but by awareness, development, and the choices you make along the way.
The poem reflects everything that has shaped my professional and personal growth — and the way I coach today.
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The poem;
As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops, angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare excitement stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops, wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul, unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope your road is a long one. May there be many summer mornings when, with what pleasure, what joy, you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind— as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities to learn and go on learning from their scholars. Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so you’re old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way, not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.Without her you wouldn't have set out. She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you. Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
K.P. Kavafis (1911)