It was about four years ago now that my wife and I sat down and revaluate our lives and made a decision that would significantly change our perspectives and direction. Shortly before this earth moving decision we were running two businesses. We were partners in an electrical / mechanical industrial process company and had a business consulting firm that we owned outright. Achievements through our businesses were significant, not least of which was receiving the Richmond Hill Chamber of Commerce, business achievement award, Corporate Citizen of the Year through our consulting firm.
We were, however, working flat out to service the needs of the businesses, which in itself was life consuming. Following years of servicing the businesses, the final crunch came when constant production delays in the partnered business caused repeated cash flow problems and although long term cash flow projections indicated that these issues could eventually be worked through we reached a point where ‘once again’ we would be working a cycle of irritating problems and frustrations to enable the business to continue.
As my wife and I sat down with a coffee one sunny spring morning to talk through the current situation and potential solutions, we looked at each other with that ‘here we go again’ look. Then, for just a moment, we both realized what the other was thinking. Perhaps it was the frustration surrounding ‘partner politics’ or perhaps it was that we had both just turned fifty and were suffering some kind of mid life crisis, but we both knew that to continue, would be embarking on a repeated course of action that neither of us wanted.
We talked through our feelings and came to the realization that we needed to take stock and re-evaluate what we wanted for the rest our lives. This day was to mould a future that was far removed from our existing lives. ‘What was it we would do if we did want we wanted to do?” Although this sounds like a catch phrase from some motivational speech, it was a significant turning point in our lives.
Part 2 to follow…….
Discoveries of copper knives from the far north, shells from the southern coasts, stone for projectile points from further east and west, and pottery types from several regions tell that story. In historic times, this was a land of Canadian ‘firsts’—first glassworks, first iron works in Upper Canada, oldest railway tunnel, oldest daily newspaper, oldest stone grist mill in Ontario—and so much more, with so much of the built heritage still on the landscape for the world to see.