Skip to main content

My Journey To Sudbury

The month of August is so full of celebrations that I would need a special software to manage them all lol.

Let's see. August 6 was our one year wedding anniversary, August 7 was my wife's birthday, August 8 was both my 10 year anniversary in Canada and 4 years as a Canadian citizen, and this coming August 15 is my birthday (and of course I won't tell you my age, but I am expecting your gifts).

How do you celebrate all of that? How about a trip? That wouldn't be bad at all.

Four times in July I was asked to conduct a series of workshops for French speaking professionals. It was so much fun. When they told me that I would do the same thing in Sudbury, I immediately said yes. So, this last week, it was both work and pleasure as I took my family with me to Sudbury Ontario. It was fun.

Up to the last minute we did not know if we would drive, take the train or fly to Sudbury. We were at Toronto Airport when we were told we would drive after all. Thank God we did. We had so much fun on our way, with Justine (my co-facilitator) driving and making us laugh all the way to Sudbury. Our daughter was so calm all along. The only time she woke up was when she was hungry. Great timing as the cops asked us to stop for a check up. Nothing to worry about. Few hours later we were in Sudbury.

The hotel bed was so comfortable that I do not remember the last time I slept this well. I wanted to move to Sudbury right then.

I left the hotel early in the morning as our workshop was scheduled to begin at 9.30 AM. My wife and kid stayed at the hotel for some extra sleep. They would join us later as it was my time to speak after Justine did her thing. Did I mention that our presentation was happening at an African food restaurant? I couldn't wait to finish my presentation as I was smelling some nice stuff in the kitchen.

As I wrapped up my speech, I went to check my wife in the audience to see how she and the baby were doing. I was hoping for a standing ovation from her (as it was her first time hearing me speak), and she just went: “You spoke so loud that you woke up the baby...”

I guess the standing ovation will come next year...

I won't mention the African food. You don't have twenty four hours to read. It was simply magnificent. My wife says that any food is good for me (which is the truth...), but this food was out of this world. We even brought some for the road. You know that in terms of food I am always open to opportunities. And for me it is always about quantity first lol.

Right after lunch, we hit the road back to Toronto. Three hours later we were home, and the baby started crying. She did not cry for two days, now that we were home, she started doing her thing. Go figure.

It was after an hour of rest that my wife said to me. You do really help people. You should get paid a lot of money to do what you do.

That simple sentence was worth millions of dollars for me. It was the validation from my loved one that I am doing what I am supposed to do with my life: helping people. I can tell you that it is not always easy, but those kinds of words are what I need to keep on going. Words of encouragement are worth the world for me. Yes, I would like to earn more doing what I love to do, but getting my family on board is worth everything. I guess it was good karma, as I was checking my e-mail when we got back, somebody had asked me to do another presentation in October (to which I said yes). September is already booked.

My question to you is this one? What does really drive you? What are the things that keep you going when it's tough? Once you identify those, keep them in front of you. They are your fuel. Once we know why we do what we do, the how doesn't really matter. It will come at the right time.

My family plays a big role in my life, and I am glad they support me.

Moral of the story? Do you want to celebrate with me? Don't ask my age, but please do send me your gifts on August 15.



Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman

Comments

  1. It’s actually a great and helpful piece of info. I’m happy that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing! Best official translation services service provider.

    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...