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My journey to the future

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 outwork anybody, to do whatever it took to make his dream come to pass. It was a tough road, he had to earn everything he needed to succeed, and no one predicted he would do it. But he did... The only game he played for the Notre Dame team was a classic. The entire stadium was chanting “Rudy, Rudy...” (Can you chant for me please?).

As I watched the movie, two conversations ran through my mind. One was when I was in the 10th grade; I overheard someone saying “Patrick wants to play, but he will never make it in Basketball”. The second comment came from my friend Charles who told me once on the phone “you may not have all the talent, but your determination will always open doors for you.”

Ten years went by between these two conversations and so many things happened along the way. As far as I can remember, there haven’t been any free lunches for me. I had to fight for everything. It took me three years to make the University Basketball team, and for most of the time I was on the bench. It took me nine months, working for nothing, before being offered a contract at the radio station; it took me four years to win my first championship as a basketball coach. The list goes on and on, but remember this, I had fun doing it, and so far, I can proudly say that I am happy with where I am at (a tap on my shoulder please).

Now the reason why I cried when I was watching “Rudy” was because it reminded me of a course I took in March 2009 that revealed to me something I did not know (and I did not know that I did not know, if you know what I mean).

Now Rudy was fighting for everything because he wanted to prove to everyone, who said he could not make it, wrong! He was also doing it so that his father could be proud of him..

This is why, at one point, he wanted to quit. In fact, he did for a while until one of his friends told him that he wanted to play for the wrong reasons. His friend told him that he did not have to prove anything to anyone. This friend went on to tell him that people would always find something to judge him on and that he needed to forget them. Instead, he needed to realize that his dream belonged to him and that only when he recognized this would his dream come true. He told him that he needed to focus on playing because he liked it and because it was his ticket to getting an education. As you may have already guessed.....He went back to practice after that conversation..

So back to me now. The reason why I liked this movie was because initially I was like Rudy. My life had been for a long time “I'm gonna prove you wrong”. It's not a bad thing (I think that is what made Michael Jordan ...MICHAEL JORDAN), however, that changed after March 2009 when I enrolled in this course. Since then I have changed my approach and with that came some good results. I learnt, like Rudy, that I did not have to prove anything to anyone, including myself. I realized that all I need to do was to keep on dreaming and enjoying the ride, knowing that the dream would come true if I didn't quit and if I put in the required work. That is my present, and that will be my future and I assure you that there will be no other movie that may come my way that will ever change my mind.

Moral of the story? If you want to see your future, just watch the movie “Rudy” and your future will be as I predict: You will cry too.

Always a pleasure

Patrick

The Journeyman.
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

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