Journeyman Stories

After a busy month, things are getting back to normal. Our house is starting to look like a home (much less than a warehouse lol). I had a great day today. I was back on stage delivering a half an hour presentation (the first of a series of four presentations) and I had so much fun. I am speaking again tomorrow with my friend Jim, and on Friday I will be facilitating a Mastermind session hosted by my friend Bonnie. After my presentation, I went to say hello to my former co-workers; it was really great to see them again. As I started to joke with them, one of them came out of the meeting room and asked me not to speak loudly as they were shooting a promotional video for their Black History Month event (I heard they will have a celebrity as their MC, I wonder who that person is...). Guess what? They asked me to be interviewed right there on the spot (good thing I was already dressed for success from my presentation earlier on). What an experience! As I began my 4 hour meeting yesterday ...

Don't be fooled by the title of this blog. Just the other day, as I was starting a meeting with Paul, he asked me how was my day. I told him that everything was going according to the plan, but not my plan. He laughed so much but it was the truth. It's been one of my hectic months in years. It's crazy man. Just to give you an idea, my wife came on Christmas day, and at that time I was still living with my friend. On Christmas eve, I learned that I won't get the apartment that I wanted (24 hours before my wife's arrival!!!). Guess what? I took a hotel for a few days (for many reasons as you can guess lol). After four days in the hotel, we moved to my brother's place for a few days, just to give me a little bit of time to find a place. Did I tell you that I booked 2 apartments in a week, just to learn that they were taken while I was going to sign the lease? Crazy hey! Anyways, after a week at my brother's place (by the way, him and his wife have been so amazi...

We finally settled in our new home a week ago now. There is still much to be done, but at least we have a home. The process took longer than expected, but we like what we have now. As you may know, my wife landed in Toronto on Christmas day. What you may not know is that she showed up wearing just a T-Shirt and a light jacket in her hands. I was like, you got to be kidding me! I asked her if she had brought any bigger jacket, to which she said yes, but it was in her big locked bags. I offered to give her mine but she refused, until we got outside of the airport buildings. Her first comments were “do you guys live in a morgue?” We all laughed. So I said to her: “This is nothing. Wait until it gets really cold”. She couldn't believe it would get colder than that. The first four days were harder for me than for her. Do you know why? She would go to bed at 6PM, Toronto time (which is 1AM in Rwanda) and she would get up at 3 AM Toronto time (10 AM Kigali time). Those were her normal hou...

I spent a very quiet New Year's eve but it was a very nice one. As we were watching the countdown on TV, I couldn't stop thinking about the things that I accomplished in 2011 (I am going to come back to this; please do remind me) . It was one of my best years. It's funny how great things are often linked to great challenges. I heard somebody say that your greatest struggle will be your greatest victory. I couldn't agree more. Did I achieve everything I wanted to achieve in 2011? No, not at all. But I am so thankful for what I have done. Those of you who have seen the movie “Peaceful Warrior”, you probably remember a scene where “Socrates” the mentor said to the young Dan Millman “Your training is now moving to a whole new level. I am going to teach you how to find your answers from the inside” (I am paraphrasing). It was a brand new perspective for young Dan, and usually any new experience or change tends to make us initially feel outside of our comfort zone. He was us...

What a week! I don't even know where to start. It seems like I am watching a movie about me. All I keep thinking about is my Basketball years in Burundi. I will explain why. I started playing Basketball at a relatively young age (I won't tell you the year, but I was about 12 years old). My classmates would teach me the fundamentals of thegame, and years later we started our own team. It was so much fun. I was not among the best players but I hung in there. I remember spending an entire summer working out in a gym with my friends, getting ready for the new season. We would run long distances on Saturdays and at that time I was among the best runners (I couldn't beat Patrick our captain who was running like crazy). Did I mention that we were still playing in Division two? ( the Junior division). After our second season (the first one was a disaster lol), we started getting better. Still playing in Division two, our captain was selected to represent our country with the Senior...