Skip to main content

My Journey to my wedding Part 1


Are you surprised by the title of my blog? Didn't you read about my wedding before? Why then Part 1 instead of part 2?


This is the story before the story.


I remember the first week I returned to work after my wedding. They surprised me with two cakes (they know that I am always open to opportunities when it comes to food). They asked me to give a speech (even though I was speechless because of the cakes). I told them that I was as surprised as they were about my wedding because things went so fast. They all laughed; but it was true.


About a month later, everything seems to be back to usual; but not really. When I think about it, my journey to my wedding really started in late October 2009. I was on the phone with my coach at the time, Sandy . She has made a huge difference in my life. After a short conversation in which I told her my usual thing “everything is fine there is nothing to worry about” (what a lie!!), she finally “gave it to me”. She spoke straight from her heart and told me what she really thought about me. I won't tell you everything she told me (you will have to pay for that, and of course with a commission for Sandy), but she mentioned one thing.


This is what she said (I am paraphrasing): “I like everything about you, but you have to know that, as a single guy, no woman will like to be with you if you don't want to open your heart and say really how you feel. You have to accept to be vulnerable and to admit that sometimes you are down. You are a human being like all of us”.


My God she was so right!!! Throughout the entire conversation, the thing that got me the most was “no woman will like to be with you” (who wouldn't be terrified, especially when that comment comes from a lady?)

I had to change.


Fast forward. This is what happened a year later:


One day in October 2010, I was heading to Montreal to attend my best friend’s wedding. I was on double duty as the best man and master of ceremony. The six hour trip from Toronto to Montreal gave me a lot of time to think (luckily I wasn’t the driver).


During the trip, I thought about my relationships, or lack thereof. I had asked out a number of people (not many, I must confess) and all of them had politely declined and offered to remain friends. When you consistently get turned down and all you ever are is a friend, I think it's time for a check-up from the neck up.


Here is what I found out during my check-up. My vision of the “right” woman for me had become a checklist I used to measure everyone I met. Only if she had seven out of ten on my checklist could I envision a chance for us to be together. As for the three remaining criteria, I thought I’d have enough time to change and mould her into a ten out of ten. Did my method work? I will let you figure that out for yourselves.


By the time I arrived in Montreal, I realized that my approach was not working and decided to turn to God. My prayer went something like “dear Lord, now the relationship thing is in Your Hands. I don't know where she will be coming from, when, how and who. But whoever You will send me, I will love her the way she is without trying to change or judge her”. After that, I went and lived my life peacefully knowing that I had put my situation in good hands.


That was my prayer on October 10, 2010. Just twelve days after my prayer, I met somebody in a very mysterious way (I think I have heard that God works in mysterious ways). We became friends and only two months later we were… married. Yes, you got it right. I am now a married man and I have never been happier.


My coach Sandy was right. I had to accept to be vulnerable and to be willing to be heart broken. Luckily, it was not broken.


Am I a bad student? (it took me an entire year to find the love of my life after my conversation with my coach). I don't think so. All that I know is that I am a very happy man.


Moral of the story? Do you want to get married? Just take a trip to Montreal and you will have a prayer.

Always a pleasure
Patrick
The Journeyman
pbizindavyi6@gmail.com
Twitter: @journeymanstory

Comments

  1. What a great lesson your coach Sandy shared with you!

    Wonderful picture! Congratulations on creating your happiness Patrick!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This post was very powerful and very inspiring Patrick.

    ReplyDelete

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...

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...

My Journey with a Bestseller

Two weeks away from writing (among other things) are now enough. I am back to you… I am getting into the podcast listening world and I am really mad at myself. How in the world was I late to the party? There are powerful podcasts out there, and on various subjects. It is like an all-you- can- eat buffet (you know my well-established relationship with food).  Just last week, I was into productivity podcasts and what I learned was so valuable that I now feel I want to turn my life upside down and start everything from scratch (maybe it would be unproductive but it is worth the try). Anyways… I am here to talk about something different. I can now brag and say that I have a bestseller friend. You don’t believe me? Here is the proof: Bonjour Patrick, J'ai écrit le livre "Introverts: Leverage Your Strengths for an Effective Job Search". Il est devenu #1 sur Amazon pendant le premiers 10 heures et a reçu le statut de Bestseller le 1er Juillet That is a...