My Second Third Tuesday

Canada is a lovely country and whenever an opportunity arises that will bring me across the border I jump at the opportunity.

Monday found me in Ottawa and Tuesday in Toronto.

Very different cities that both have always welcomed me in the past and I was eager to return.

The first night venue was small and it saddened me not to see more familiar faces in the crowd. Sitting in high back chairs found at bars in every corner of the globe the audience was engaged and entertained. We laughed, smiled and made our way through my thoughts on life and how to be happy living it.

Toronto was a different venue and more people. If you’ve never taken the stage in a pub to a standing room only crowd it is an interesting challenge. When they can’t use your slides and there are imaginary aquariums on the television screens with waiters bringing around shot glasses of soup, it adds a new level of fun to the game of the night.

As I sit here at thirty thousand feet reflecting on the past couple of days, the strangest thought is how much I miss the Fairmont Hotels. They’ve always been a core part of the Third Tuesday events. Ask any past speaker and they will instantly bring up the magic of these hotels in Canada. I’m not sure why they are no longer involved, but I personally missed them.

The other thing I missed was the faces of people I care about.

Yes, I got to spend time with and hug some dear people. I met so many new inspiring folks and that is always special. But, I saw very few friends who I hoped to reconnect with.

One friend went out of his way to insure that we saw each other. That made up for the missed faces, but the thought is still bouncing around in my head and heart.

Drives home the reality that we are all a very busy lot. That we have so much going on that making time for the little things is harder than ever. I need to keep that in mind on the roads ahead.

Thank you to Joe Thornley, the sponsors, my publisher and everyone else involved in making this event a success. A special thanks to Sacha Chua for the beautiful sketchnotes of my talk in Toronto.

If you are in Canada and are not part of the Third Tuesday community, you should get involved because they bring some of the best speakers, authors and business people monthly to cities across the country. Find details about Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver events.

I hope I’m invited back when my next book comes out.