Skip to main content

My Journey to the top


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 until he met an 83 year old man at the top of the tower. That was incredible. Jack’s secret? In his own words:”It was nice seeing all these young ladies passing me while I was climbing. But please don’t tell my wife” (I hope his wife is not a fan of my blog).

After the climb we took pictures and had fun together. As we got close to end the day, I took a moment to chat with Jack. He said the last time he climbed the CN Tower was 20 years ago. I asked him if he exercises a lot, and I was stunned to learn that him and his 73 year old wife walk an average of 3 hours a day. I learned also that Jack and his wife are vegetarians. Right then I had plans to go to Swiss Chalet (my favorite restaurant) for my usual quarter chicken dinner with fries with a Pepsi (and Ceasar salad on the side). Then I changed my mind.

As I mentioned, we had new members on our team and many of them were climbing the Tower for the first time. We met early in the morning, and I could read both excitement and a little bit of fear on some of the faces. Were they up to the challenge? Were they going to make it? For others, it was about breaking the records. For me it was about....going to Swiss Chalet afterwards.

Once at the top, the facial expressions changed. It was all about excitement. We all made it. Some of our family members were there as well (a trip all the way to the top by elevator. How lucky!!). It was a moment of celebration. Jack was in heaven (literary speaking as we were all in high altitudes). When I asked Jack about his experience, he just said:” It’s all about doing what I love to do. If it was not this fun, I wouldn’t do it.” I thought I was hearing Michael Jordan in his peak years.

Many hours later, as I am writing this blog, I can’t stop thinking about Jack’s comment:” it is all about doing what I love to do. If it was not this fun, I wouldn’t do it”. How many of us really think like this? Do we all really love what we do? Are we really having fun doing what we are doing? If the answer is no, then we should think it over and find our passions. It’s a life worth living. Trust me, the expression of Jack’s face said it all. He is alive as ever. And he has plans as well. He wants to speak about living healthy and long. Why not. He is a living example of what he wants to speak about. Today, I was the first member of his audience and he did good. Do you want proof? Well I skipped going to Swiss Chalet.

Moral of the story? Do you want to live long and healthy? Go and climb the CN Tower and you won’t go to your favorite restaurant.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Journey to Orillia

We drove a little bit late at night. I had been to this place called Orillia before, but it was about ten years ago. I didn’t remember much about it, other than it was beautiful. Here we were on the road, and there was not much we could see, except a signal on the highway that said “beware of cattle”. We thought it was funny.   By the time we arrived at the hotel, it was almost midnight. I went straight to bed. We had to wake up early in the morning as breakfast was scheduled to be served a six O’clock. There was no way I was going to miss out.‎ You may be wondering what was happening in Orillia. I am glad you asked. A number of months ago, Paul, my business partner, got this brilliant idea, and once he shared it with me I was totally on board. He realized that for us to do what we wanted to do, we must work with partners. These may be service providers, or simply other business owners with goals similar to ours. Paul decided to go out and attend different netwo...
1 comment
Read more

My Journey to two stories

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...
2 comments
Read more

My Journey to my wedding

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...
5 comments
Read more