Journeyman Stories

Where do I start? I don't really know. As I am waiting for my flight at Kigali airport, with tears in my eyes, I am thinking about the last few days. There are no words that can explain what I have experienced in this month of December 2010. As Phil Collins said, it's another day in paradise. The person who said that words are powerful was so right. It took a few words from my then girlfriend, now wife (are you kidding me!!!!), to start a series of events that led me to this moment. She just said: “Honey, this long distance thing is killing me”. Having been in a couple of long distance relationships, I knew what she meant. This time, it was different. I had to do something, otherwise, this relationship would end up like the other ones. I had promised myself to do whatever it took to make this one work. As I hung up the phone, I thought I had to move mountains. I had to find a way to meet her. Originally, my intention was to visit her in July 2011, however, this felt like a cent...

As I am writing, I am sitting in a luxurious living room in a nice villa, after a few minute walk in the garden. All I can hear are the birds singing and a few cars passing by. It was just yesterday that I landed in this beautiful country of Rwanda. What a week! Friday afternoon, I flew to New York, Sunday night I flew back to Toronto, the next day I was at the airport to catch my flight to Kigali via Brussels. Wait a minute. They are calling me for breakfast. I will get back to you in a second. What a delight! Where was I? Oh yes. My flight. I landed at Kigali airport eager to be there. More than anything, this trip has been a confidence boost for me. I wanted to prove to myself that what I have been learning all these years works. I can do anything if I put my mind into it. The last few days have been surreal. What was I waiting for? In a few moments, I will be with my childhood friends Jeff and Pacome. It's like a dream. I can't believe it. And tonight I will meet for the fi...

As the year 2010 is slowly but surely ending (is it really slowly?), for most of us, it is the time to reflect on what we have accomplished and what we would like to see happening in the year 2011 As far as I am concerned, 2010 was THE year. I learned so much, but I was also challenged a lot (thus the learning part). During this year, I finished writing my first book (the editing process is almost over), and I shared my stories with you blog fans with passion and sincerity . In the process, my Facebook friends went from 300 to over 1600 in just over a few months. Now I am always walking with my pen in my pocket just in case someone asks me for my autograph. By the time you start reading this blog, I will already be in the sky flying to my motherland, after spending an amazing week-end in New York.I wanted to surprise my mom on her birthday, and to also spend Christmas with her. Many of you will be surprised (maybe even mad at me) that I am flying to Burundi and did not even tell yo...

Where do I start? I don't even know. It's been crazy the last few days. Now it's almost 1.30 am and I can't sleep. Do I know why? I don't think so. Do you remember reading my blog “My journey to an amazing feeling”? If not, please read it before you proceed with this one (this is my plug for you to read my entire blog posts). Okay, are you ready now? Do you mean you did not read all of them? Come on! Go back and read. I have all my time. I can wait for you. All right. I am glad you did. There is something I said in my keynote presentation few weeks ago that keeps coming back to my mind. I said that all we need to know is where we're going, the rest is to figure out what will be our next step from where we are right now. It is a great concept, except that I was not using my own coaching. It is fun when you tell others to do something whereas you are not doing it yourself (I guess it came from the years I spent coaching basketball) The last few weeks were almost b...

I participated in a communication's course last week-end. Talk about being at the right place at the right time. It was unbelievable! Do you know what was the emphasis in the course? Guess! It was communication in relationships! No comment! Lol During the course, I reflected on two stories that I would like to share with you (free of charge of course). Here they are: There was an old guy who was sleeping in his couch. His grandkids came over while he was sleeping and placed a piece of cheese under his nose. Soon after, the guy woke up and exclaimed: “this room stinks!” He went into the kitchen and said again: “This kitchen stinks as well, maybe I should go outside”. He went outside, but still the same smell was around. Finally, in disgust he shouted: “The whole world stinks”. Little did he realize that the scent came from the cheese that was under his nose. Did you like that story? If not, I won’t share the next one. ..........Okay, okay, seeing that you insist, I wi...

As I search to find the right words to express what I am feeling, one song comes to mind. Do you know which song? Take a guess! No, it’s not that one. Try harder! OK, it's Bob Marley’s song “Is this love” on auto replay in my mind. Stay tuned for the upcoming attraction in a theatre near you. This week has been one of the busiest yet most productive weeks in a long time. Things that historically never moved are now moving. I had a meeting with Paul my business partner where I pointed out to him that we’ve been thinking about doing a lot of things instead of just doing them. This statement cracked him up but we both knew that it was true. So, since then I have been in action. Last week I delivered a keynote presentation to an organization that provides assistance to new immigrants to Canada. This was my third time presenting at this organization, and I have to tell you that each time I am always amazed at the work they are doing. As I was doing my thing, I couldn’t help but thin...

Have you ever felt like you are living in a dream where every moment seems to be perfect? You meet the right people at the right time, you get the answer to your questions effortlessly, your work is getting done, and doors that were locked for a long time are now opening for you. I am hooked to Louis Armstrong’s tune “It’s a wonderful world” (or so it seems). That was me last week. I didn’t want to wake up from my “dream” because it felt so ideally perfect. What a feeling! The “aha” moment came a few weeks back when I was late for a meeting. I am rarely late for anything. Although I said I was late, I arrived for the meeting 15 minutes before it started. But for some odd reason I managed to get IN the room late. I had to explain why I was late. I had stepped out of the room help someone I knew not realizing how long it would take. I rushed back into the meeting’s room, and found everybody waiting for me (talk about an embarrassing moment). Then came the coaching! It was a tough pil...

One of the things I enjoy about my trips to New York is coming home from New York (I am not even sure if I understand what I just said). Maybe I can explain. For me, going to New York is like a car going to the gas station with an empty tank. It comes out topped up with energy, ready to hit the road with more power. That’s how I felt on Monday when I returned home to Toronto. I was ready to take on the world. There are so many projects on which I am working and I am super excited about all of them. My friend, Mike, and I would like to launch an online TV show (a long time dream of mine). What else? I would like to see and help my friend “Summertime” achieve her dream of building a hospital back in Burundi (her longtime dream). And together with another guy I met a few weeks back, I would like to build the first African Cultural Centre in Toronto. Isn’t that awesome? The funny part is that I have no idea as to how all of these things will work out. But I am excited regardless. This i...

This is one of those blogs where I am going to use my time travel machine. I am writing it on Wednesday, you will read it on Monday, and I am talking about a trip I am going to take on Thursday (go figure). Another week-end back to New York, I am very excited about it. I will have the entire day of Friday for myself, and frankly I don’t know what I am going to do with all the extra time (how about an NBA game at the Garden? That would be nice). This week my friend Motivatorman is celebrating his 400th blog. What an accomplishment! He has been my friend and mentor for a while now. He is the one who introduced me to the world of blogging and now I am a self proclaimed Superstar (round of applause please). Do you know what he says about my blog? In his own words: “Ever since I have known Patrick he has told stories that have astounded and inspired me deeply. His are stories of real-life successes that helped me see that I could overcome my own challenges and achieve my dreams. Patrick...

I just met an amazing person. This man is almost 76 years old and his name is Jack. He is such a funny character and above all he is an incredible performer. He climbed the CN Tour in less than 33 minutes and 23 seconds. Why do I mention this specific time? Simply because that was the time it took me to climb the Tower (in other words, Jack was faster than me!!!). This thing is HUGE. It’s 1776 steps, over 150 floors. What a challenge! This is my forth time climbing the Tower as a fund raising event for the United Way. For the second year I was the team captain (I guess I was not chosen based on performance). This year was the year of all the records. We had a record breaking 22 members on the team, we raised over $2000 (for the first time) and the fastest member of our team made it to the top in 15 minutes and 6 seconds (another team record, obviously not my record). To top it all off, we had Jack as a team member, 76 years old! We thought he was the oldest guy in the entire event unt...

I am sitting in front of the TV watching an old movie featuring Steven Seagal but my phone keeps beeping and interrupting me. I have no choice but to stop the movie and see why the phone keeps going off. You see, I have turned my phone into a tool to remind me of what needs to be done and when. Every time the phone beeps, I know something requires my immediate attention, so I make sure to check to see what it is and then proceed to do it. It could be a phone call that I need to make, or just a reminder that I have to write my blog (see, it’s working. I am writing my blog now). Hold on, this movie I am watching is getting really interesting. I might have to get back to you later. Wow! What an intense movie! Well, where was I? Oh my phone. It had to come down to that. I had so much to do last week that I missed a bunch of the things with which I had tasked myself to complete. I ultimately had to come up with a system to remind me of what needed to be done. My phone came in handy. Now it’...

What a month of travel! This has been my schedule for the last three weeks: Three days in New York, one day in Niagara Falls the following week, and three days in Montreal last week. In a few weeks I will be returning to New York. The trip is already booked . My manager at work told me that if I keep living the life I am living now, there will be no space for a wife (I am hoping to meet my future wife on the road lol). Talking about marriage, I was in Montreal performing double duty in a wedding (as the best man and the MC). I guess it is the next step before my own wedding, don't you think? Johnny, my best friend was getting married to another best friend of mine (I think they were made for each another. They are both my best friends). Johnny is lucky to have her as his wife. She is an amazing lady. I know she is lucky to have Johnny in her life too. It was both an emotional and great event. I was there when the relationship started and I was there to witness the beginning of the...

I am glued to the TV zapping between two channels watching both the Colbert Report and the Cosby Show. I am also trying to finish some work from last night (talk about multitasking). To my great surprise, as I flip back to the Cosby Show, guess who I see? Myriam Makeba, the late great singer from South Africa. She was playing herself on the Cosby Show. Needless to say the Colbert Report had to wait (good thing I was able to catch the same episode last night). Of course I am a big Myriam Makeba fan (and so seem to be all the people on the Cosby Show). She started to tell them how beautiful the continent of Africa is. She described Africa in such a poetic way that made me a little teary. Oh how she made me miss home! All I could think of was “why did I leave my country?” In my eight years in Canada, there has been a few times where I wanted to pack and go back home for good. Funny enough, those moments hit me when I don’t seem to see any results in what I am doing. Chasing the American d...

I remember writing my first essay ever way back in Grade 10. The essay topic was “life is a journey”. Did the teacher know at that time I was going to be The Journeyman? I doubt it. I don’t even remember what I wrote but my teacher’s remarks were that it was too long. Life is really a journey and it is up to us to decide how we are going to take it. The good thing is that life has plenty of surprises. Throughout the course of my life I have learned to let go of expectations of how life unfolds and live in the moment. Do you remember my blog from a few weeks back where I mentioned the movie “Evan Almighty”? I kept thinking about it since then. In the movie, Evan, a newly elected congressman, based his campaign on his slogan “We’re going to change the world”. Because people needed change, he got elected. He thought being a congressman was going to be a piece of cake until he started facing real challenges. It takes a great deal of work to change the world. I took time to reflect on a few...

Here I am again in New York. I just started another series of four trips in seven months in the Big Apple. If things go as planned, I will add another trip to San Diego in February, a trip that will come handy as it will be freezing in Toronto (I would make an excellent weatherman). We got to New York early today, and boy is this city alive! The traffic is crazy and people are everywhere. Our room will only be available at noon and my fellow travelers are going for breakfast. I decide not to go so I can write this blog. You blog readers are so important to me that I can afford to skip breakfast (you don’t see me, I am writing so fast so I can join them before I die of hunger lol) This trip comes at the right time for me. I needed an escape. Although I know it will be a busy week-end, at least I know I will be focused on one thing. The last few weeks felt as though I was part of “Cirque du Soleil”, overwhelming but fun week indeed. I made sure to keep my commitment about being in shape ...

Last week-end I took some time off. It was so cool to relax and do nothing (if you call “watching movies” doing nothing). On Saturday a great friend of mine came to visit me and we spent many hours together. When I told my sister in law who was coming, she laughed and said: “it is going to be a great meeting between two intellectuals.”. I laughed a lot and I was also honored as my friend is such a brilliant guy. Every time I am with him, I always learn something new. As it has been a long time without seeing each other, we took time to catch up a little bit and he asked what I was up to. He knew almost everything about me as he is a great fan of my blog. There was really nothing new he was going to learn from me. However, as I was telling him my stories, I realized something. I have been creating my life the way I wanted it without even noticing. Here is an example 1. In 2008 I decided I wanted to be a professional speaker 2. The same week, my coworker introduced me to Toastmasters (s...

One of the commitments I made and that I need to accomplish before the end of this year is to get back in shape. I think it was about time I do something about it. I have been in Canada for 8 years and in those 8 years I have gained 55 pounds. Don’t you dare laugh at me. It sure isn’t because of lack of discipline, besides I have my reasons, number one being my retirement from the game of Basketball lol (see Charles Barkley). I remember sending a picture to my mom two years ago and she couldn’t tell which one is her son (I was with some friends in the picture). Funny moment. She sent me an email the next day saying “That’s a nice picture. You must be the one who took it because I didn’t see you”. I had to explain I was the one on the far left side, she couldn’t believe it. I had hoped that working on my book would make me shade a few pounds (by the way, my editors and I are putting some serious work in this. I never thought it would take this long). What an illusion! My best bet is hi...

If I were to choose a theme for this week, I would call it “last minute week”. Everything was done at the last minute this week. . I had been planning my days so well for quite some time now, but this week has been quite an experience Yesterday I had no idea what the topic of this week’s blog would be, and my very efficient editor (whose name I won’t mention because she likes to keep her privacy) sent me a reminder that it was the blog. I was honest with her that I had no inspiration at all. A few suggestions from her and I was ready to go. However, I did not get to work right away so my ideas flew thick and fast and I ended up losing them. Today was another “last minute” event again. I was scheduled to be the chair of the Toastmasters meeting, and 24 hours before the meeting I was not ready with my agenda (what a well organized chair I was!). Fortunately the president of our club came to my rescue. She agreed to be the chair provided I be the speaker. I immediately said yes, but still...

Have you ever been in a meeting but not fully present because your mind is wandering somewhere else? Don’t you dare lie because I know it happens to all of us lol. Today I attended a workshop for speakers, and for about five minutes or so I was thinking about ... a movie. How pleasant is this! You may be wondering what movie? Bare with me, I will get back to it later (this is my trick to get you to read till the end lol) For about a year now, I have been working on a project that is a little outside of my comfort zone. During the course of the project, I experienced some ups and downs (more downs than ups if you know what I mean). The project has been demanding and required a lot of prayers too because most of the time I was left wondering what to do next. A little boost from the Man upstairs causes no harm. With everything that’s been going on throughout the year, one question kept coming back in my mind. Why does it seem that every time I pray for something I end up with the opposi...

A friend of mine was writing a letter and something strange caught my attention. He was writing so slow that it seemed everything was in slow motion. I went up to him and asked “why are you writing so slowly?” His response was “I am writing so slowly because my friend to whom I am sending this letter is a slow reader”. Go figure I hope you read this one slowly. In March of this year I enrolled in a program that trains people to become leaders (Yes we can!). My friend Jeanelle told me that although the program is free it will cost me everything I have. I will have to give up all my old thinking and my old ways of doing things (I hoped I could keep my clothes on lol). That was an understatement. The program was designed to last seven months. During those seven months I would attend four training sessions in New York. I liked that (I was hoping to meet other Superstars like me). In addition, I was given a coach who would hold me accountable for what I promised I would accomplish. So far s...

Here am, sitting in the lobby of the New Yorker Hotel, and all that I am thinking about is going back to Toronto as soon as possible. Don't get me wrong; New York is a great place, but I feel like I am ready to take on the world and to make things happen NOW! I think my last name should be “Superman” (at least that is how I feel now). The conference I went to was so awesome. A couple of great moments happened to me in New York. This is my fourth trip to New York since the month of March of this year. The last three times I came here, I was so eager to learn, and I was so focused on what I was coming for that I did not get a chance to visit the city. This time, it was different. I felt more relaxed and I had enough time to visit a few places before our conference. We arrived at the hotel on Friday at nine o'clock, and we were told that our rooms would only be available at 2 pm. So, one of my friends suggested that we go on one of the sightseeing tour buses. What a great idea! Fo...

I have so many things to be thankful for this week and some of them took my breath away as they unfolded. I once heard somebody say “be careful what you wish for, because you may end up getting it” I was at Ngoma Lounge last week (for my free Sprite of course, among other things), I was talking with my friend Kijanya. I mentioned to him I was interested in learning how to play music, starting with the keyboard. He laughed obviously thinking I was joking. The next day, while helping a great friend of mine who was moving he asked if he could leave his two keyboards with me (you heard right...two keyboards). He didn’t think he would have enough space for them at the new place. I thought to myself “Are you kidding me?” I then started reflecting on the conversation I had with Kijanya the previous day. Who do you think I called to announce the news? You guessed right, Kijanya himself. He thought I was playing tricks on him still going at it with my joke. He just couldn’t buy it. Then he said...

One of my favorite movies of all time is “Serendipity”. It is a great romantic comedy (If I were an actor, this could be one of the movies I would play in). Before I watched the movie, I did not know the meaning of the word “Serendipity”. Here is one of the meaning of Serendipity: “the effect by which one accidentally stumbles upon something fortunate, especially while looking for something entirely unrelated”. Such was my experience a few weeks ago in Montreal. As I mentioned in one of my recent blogs (I hope you got a chance to read it, otherwise go back and skim through it before you carry on with this one. That’s my assignment to you and there might be a quiz afterwards lol), I was in Montreal hosting an event, and I “accidentally stumbled upon” one of the guest speakers. What a fortune accident! The last time I saw Jeanine, I was a little boy. We lived in the same area (our moms were great friends) and we attended the same high school. When she left to pursue her studies in the U...

Back to normal life after a few busy weeks. It's great to wake up in the morning feeling rested and ready to go (yes, Ama. Hoping you won’t ask me to get a life again lol). Two weeks ago, somebody told me: “Patrick, you are a doing machine. Find some time to just be”. I laughed so much, but I came to see that she was right. After much consideration, I took last Monday off. All I did was respond to a few e-mails, some of them to friends who were just discovering my blog for the first time (Vanessa, I am not trying to name any names lol, but your comments were so great. Thanks a lot), some others were discussing with me about an opportunity of me blogging for them (I really felt honoured, so I said yes. Stay tuned for more on that). I was again the MC of an event a few weeks ago. Despite my team losing at the Basketball game prior to the event, I had great fun. I guess now the Lakers are having second thoughts about signing me to that contract I have long waited for. If that doesn’t ...

I just started a new relationship. It is an amazing one. I really love this person so much that it takes a song to describe it. I thought of a great romantic song and I came up with Whitney Houston’s The Greatest Love of All. Here is how it goes: “I found the greatest love of all inside of me.The greatest love of all is easy to achieve. Learning to love yourself It is the greatest love of all” Yes. I am learning to love myself (I know you were expecting me to say something else lol). It is not as easy as it seems. I must admit that it took me a great deal of courage to face...me. I once heard a speaker say that when you seem to get stuck over and over again in some areas of your life, check up from the neck up. That is what I did recently. I took a thorough and honest look at the man in the mirror (I think Michael Jackson’s song came in handy). What I saw was not a pretty picture (but I am that bad either). There were things I had to face, and my coaches (yes I have many) helped me a l...

I have been to Montreal a couple of times, but I cannot say I know the city well. Of all my trips there, the longer I have stayed is 3 days. I usually go just for a week end. On every occasion there is somebody to pick me up either at the airport or bus terminal, I just have to show up. This time it was different. I knew I had to go to Montreal (I was the MC of an event taking place there), but I had little time to prepare as I was on the road for the most part prior to my trip. A day before my trip, I had no idea how I would get to Montreal and where to stay. Because I had been away for a while, I did not get a chance to talk to the organizers of the event about the logistics of my trip until only a day before (what an adventure!). But...a quick phone call to my friend Emery and there was a place for me to stay. I guess that’s what friends are for. I then decided to take the Mega Bus. Good decision. The bus is so comfortable and makes it feel like you are flying. Plus I had access to ...

Back to Toronto after a week on the road. The last few days have been amazing. I left on Thursday for New York City, came back on Monday morning (5am to be exact), then headed to Buffalo New York the same day, and by 1am I was back to Toronto saying to myself: “This is crazy”. Hold on there is more. On the next day, I was back on the road again this time going to Brantford Ontario and came back to Toronto around 11pm. Two days later, here I am on my way to Montreal for a week-end of festivities. In a few weeks, I am heading back to New York and if things go according to plan, I may go to Africa later this year (crazy isn’t it?). As I am writing this, I am amazed at how my life has turned out. Never in my mind had I thought I would travel this much. In fact, since July 2005, I have traveled at least every 3 months. On my way home from Brantfort, I was thinking a few years back about what my mom said to me when I was coaching Basketball. She said “when are you going to have a life?”. An...

Living in downtown Toronto is really something these days. I have never seen this many police officers in the city, ever. And they are everywhere. At first I thought that me being a superstar had drawn the people’s attention and the city saw that I needed bodyguards (but not this many). I wanted to let them know I was about to leave the city for 3 days, but they were not open to conversation. So I had to let it go. Good thing I did not talk to them because as it turned out they were there for my friend Obama. He has a meeting with 19 of his fellows in what they call G20 (I know he’s going to miss me as I will be away). So here I am, back to New York City again (I am about to leave in a few hours). The only question I have in my mind is this: Is New York as pumped as Toronto about the soccer World Cup? I witnessed the World Cup fever myself, today as the Netherlands won again (I am writing my blog on Thursday evening). Soccer fans were chanting and cheering everywhere in downtown Toront...