Positive Transformation

There is a long story behind the podcast and I will try to explain it simply without trying to bore your audience ☺…

But it boils down to one thing which is that I am very grateful to life for having giving me back my motivation, inspiration, and happiness. And as a way of my giving back, I decided to help, nurture and guide others as much as I could, especially to those who need it the most out of love and caring.

Here’s the actual story behind my podcast “The 3 Pillars”…

I had been in aviation as an Inflight Safety Training Instructor for over 15 years. I left the profession after many years, mainly due to ill-health but mostly because of my instinct telling me that something wasn’t right within my work sphere.

Some years later, quite by chance, I discovered a possible link to why I felt the way I did, which made me aware of the (taboo) sickness of “Aerotoxic Syndrome”

I was convinced that there was more to the story and so I launched the “SHIFT” movement, asking crew members to come forward with their stories and experiences, and I discovered that there were many suffering from it but since it isn’t accepted as an official health disorder, people were most often mal-diagnosed by their GPs.

I wrote a book on it “Aviation Stories-Dying to Fly,” in the hopes of creating more awareness around it. But I soon realized that one of the symptoms of “Aerotoxic Syndrome” is a loss of concentration, which in many cases makes it really difficult to read/focus. So I decided to go a step ahead and reach the community verbally by means of a podcast. So that’s where my podcast idea originated from.

I went on to personalize it some more by incorporating other things that have inspired me…3 in particular, which became “The three Pillars – Aviation, Writing, and Self-help. That’s where the title comes from!

Series 1 of the podcast focused richly on aviation and “Aerotoxic-Syndrome” That experience enriched my love for gaining and sharing information in a very honest, simplistic way. I had originally decided to have 3-4 episodes, but I was blessed because somehow divinely, I had contacts dropping into my lap, like with the Belgian neuro-psychologist: Daniel Dumalin, among other amazing guests that participated on the show.

I am currently recording and airing Series 2 of the podcast which is focused on writing. I received over 100 guest applications and feel tremendously grateful for such a positive response.

And as you probably already guessed, I will follow up later with Series 3 of the podcast featuring advice, experiences and guidance on Self-help.

Allow me to recommend the episode with acclaimed Director-Producer-Writer Eric Christiansen: Listen / Read →

There are so many gratitude stories that I could share but the one that I can think of is when I was a Safety Training Instructor, from a couple of years ago. I remember giving a course on First-Aid to a group of students when I noticed that one of them had started crying. I stopped the course and decided to give the rest of the group a little break, while I tried to console her. What she told me brought tears to my eyes and gave me this warm feeling of care that I will never forget.

She went on to explain that she had just delivered her baby girl and was at home on parental leave when she experienced one of her worst nightmares that she wished no parent would have to go through. She recalled that night when she had gone into her daughter’s room to check up on her and was shocked to find her baby non-responsive; cold and not breathing. She remembered panicking like any person would and for fear of losing her daughter tried to calm down and think of ways of saving her. She got her husband to call the Ambulance services while she decided to start with CPR on her baby.

At that point, she burst into tears and gave me a tight hug, while she continued with her story. What she said next was so heartbreaking…she remembered a course that I had given her, a while back explaining how to perform CPR on a baby. Remembering the steps that I had taught her; even the tips to easily remember it, was actually what had helped her save her baby’s life.

I could swear I heard my heart crack open then and we both cried together, out of sheer happiness and love. A big moment of gratitude for me and her, which I will forever carry with me in my heart!

Unfortunately, there are many roadblocks, but I will mention a few here:

1. Ego – This is when people are too self-absorbed, focusing on wrong ideals and misguided perceptions of themselves and others.
2. Pride – This is when you believe that you know it all and have all the answers, which could be so far away from reality.
3. Negativity/Hatred/Pessimism – This is when you block out emotions and let your fears take over, building incorrect boundaries and indulging in self-sabotage.

Coming from a state of being apathetic, depressed, burned-out, to reaching where I stand today, is lesson enough for me to understand and accept that we have a higher state in play for all of us. I appreciate what I consider a second “LIFE” that has been gifted to me by the universe, and it is this hope and faith that all of us need to keep alive, especially in these difficult times we face.

To put things into perspective, I believe that each of us has a life purpose or calling and it is in this life that we must strive to find the path to it.

What we are facing as “ONE” community is the universe giving us a moment of reflection to ponder on our ways, our lifestyle patterns, our behavior towards each other, our compassion towards humanity…to ultimately come out stronger as a people, with a devoted sense of purpose to the young ones and the innocent that are following behind in our footsteps.