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My Journey to a busy long week-end

Back to back this week-end I went to bed almost at dawn. Thankfully it was a long week-end, I was able to catch up with my sleep today. A friend of mine had asked me to host his wedding reception as the Master of Ceremonies and I said yes. It was this week-end and we all had fun. At the wedding I met people that I haven't seen in over ten years. It was so great.

Last Friday, my friend Emmanuel Lopez a.k.a Motivatorman came to visit me at my place. It was for work, but he also wanted to see our daughter (now she is what people want to see...Am I jealous of her? Lol). Then we decided to have a walk at the park. We sat there for almost an hour talking about different subjects, including our favorite one: Movies. It's funny how two people can watch the same movie and each gets a complete different perspective.

The movie that came into the discussion was Kevin Costner's “Field of Dreams”. It is a fantastic movie about an Iowa corn farmer (Costner), hearing voices, interprets them as a command to build a baseball diamond in his fields. The voices were saying “If you build it, he will come”. Against common wisdom, he decided to destroy a big part of his farm, sacrificing his corn, to build a baseball field. People thought he was crazy, his wife Annie, was skeptical, but she allowed him to plow under his corn to build the field.

For a while nothing happened, and He soon faced financial ruin (by this time, I know that you want to hear the full story. Don't you?).

It is a must see movie. That is all I can say.

For me, the movie is a great metaphor. Most of the times we hear “voices” in our heart to follow our dreams, but we decide not to listen to them. They seem to be illogical, they are against common sense, and above all, they are way outside of our comfort zone. What if I fail? What would other people say? Those are common questions that we ask ourselves.

Some others decide to do something about it, but find themselves facing insurmountable challenges, and decide to give up. Very few really move forward in spite of the obstacles, and those are the ones who become our heroes.

What was interesting about the movie was the fact that Costner was obeying the voices without understanding why he was doing what they were asking. He took them by faith and faced the unknown. It was challenging at times when he faced temporary defeat, but he was rewarded big time at the end (of course, I won't tell you how...lol).

He built the baseball diamond, and for a very long time nothing happened. He thought it would happen immediately but he was wrong.

That is the mistake most of us make. I thought my dreams were going to happen overnight. I have been waiting for ten years now. Yes, there have been successes here and there, but the big one has taken a very long time man! I didn't know I had to fight this hard. I didn't know I had to face mountains, I didn't know I would cry more than once. I didn't know I would have my back against the wall so many times. The list goes on and on, but still, there is no regret at all. Do you know why? Because those dark moments are those who make the victory so sweet.


J. K. Rowling said once that failure is very important, we do not speak about it often, and success is the ability to resist failure or to use failure to achieve success. Most people never try things for fear of failing. Rock bottom is a place where you have nothing to lose, therefore, venture about anything to achieve success. I couldn't agree more

Moral of the story? Do you want to watch a great movie? Come to visit me and you will be inspired.


Always a pleasure

Patrick
The Journeyman

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