Journeyman Stories

I must admit that sometimes it is hard for me to find titles for my blogs. Again I am the one writing it, so I am the one to decide lol I was on Youtube watching some inspirational videos (yes we all need some inspiration) and I bumped into a short video on an interview with Will Smith (I believe I will meet him someday and that it will be HIS pleasure lol).. The way he spoke was as if he was there talking directly to me. I was like “I think I have heard this somewhere”. At the end of his interview, he mentioned the book from which he got all his ideas. Before he even mentioned the name of the book, I already knew it. I found myself saying at the same time with Will: “The Alchemist”!!! “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho is one of my favourite books. This book is so amazing that I have read it seven times already (“get a life” I hear you saying). Coelho talks about the concept of “Personal Legend”.. According to him “Everyone has a Personal Legend. This is your dream. Whatever the purpose ...

You may be asking yourselves which school of life am I talking about. Hang on, you will soon find out. I like talking with my friend and mentor Andrae. We share many things in common, one being our passion for Basketball. You may be thinking: "Here we go again with another Basketball story...". Well, I am the one writing this blog, so I am in charge lol. One day I was talking to Andrae when he made a statement that has remained with me ever since. He said that Basketball is the best sport that teaches about life (sorry hockey fans..). I couldn’t agree more. My fellow NBA fans would remember last year’s play - offs when Lebron James made a shot with less than a second left in the game, leading his team to victory (they did not win the series against Superman but that was a heck of a game). How many times in our lives have we found a solution to our problem at the last second, when everything seemed to be inevitably leading to disaster? (I can see you nodding…). That's ...

This is the first time that I am writing a blog with tears in my eyes. Don't worry, nothing happened to me. I just saw the movie “Rudy”.. If I were you, I would rent and watch this movie, but I am not you, so I won't be doing anything. Have you ever watched a movie that reminds you of your life? That is what has just happened to me. I watched the movie “Rudy” for the third time just because I had no other movie to see. It has been a while since there's been a new movie in my house (I recently moved close to a movie theatre ...that should explain why). As a kid, Rudy dreamed about playing for the Notre Dame College football team. When he said that the first time, everyone laughed at him. Who wouldn't? He had no athletic ability, his family could not afford to send him to college, and in fact everybody's dream in the family was to work on the factory plant as it had been the tradition for generations. But they all forgot one thing. Rudy had heart. He was willing to o...

I know you are asking yourselves what I meant by “the Big One”. Trust me; if I knew it myself I would have explained it. All I know is, there is a Big One. It was in late October 2003, a year and a couple of months after my arrival to Canada. I was still adjusting to my new home but my mind was still back home, especially considering what I had done while I was there (see my blog on the journey to my major project). I wanted to do something significant, and I felt nothing could stop me. Little did I know what was ahead of me. Now with a little bit of distance, I could admit that I wanted things for the wrong reasons. I just wanted to show off and brag and I learned it the hard way (please don't feel sorry for me, I needed it). Napoleon Hill wrote that in every adversity lies a blessing in disguise (I wanted to shoot him when I read that, cause I did not see any blessings at all). It was only later on that I came to truly understand what he meant (and I have to apologize to Na...