‘RELEASE THE GENIE’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY PAUL ROGERS
DO YOU SUFFER IN COMFORT? THE TRANSFORMATION BEHIND THE SMILE Genie Fact: A Genie can tell Cher how to turn back time. “Mayday" is derived from the French word “m'aider" that means “help me" and is a shortened form of “venez m'aider", which means “come and help me".
It is a 911 call when a situation deteriorates to the point of "grave and imminent danger," thus warranting immediate action (intervention, assistance, response). Drop everything and converge on that point.
“Pan-Pan” is a situation of a lower level of importance. Derived from the French word “panne", Pan-Pan most often refers to "possible assistance needed". The captain remains confident that the situation can be handled, and that there is no current danger.
The paradox is that one defines the other. It is in this space between Pan-Pan and Mayday where most of us live. We “suffer in comfort”. We become masters of internalising and enlarging our zones of discomfort. It is the area that lies behind the smile. It is the gap between “I’m fine” and its mirror reflection of “Save Me”. We can handle problems and take on more and more, whilst continuing to be high functioning and of service to our brothers and sisters. However, this does come at a cost. Like any truth which is buried, at some point, it breaks through the zone of comfort to its Mayday “Suffering in Discomfort.” This is when we can no longer pretend. It is the beginning of the release; the start of the healing.
A perfect example of how Mayday can bring amazing growth, is the transformation of a caterpillar. A caterpillar may suffer in comfort in its final days before declaring Mayday, but when it awakes after its Mayday, it finds itself transformed into a beautiful butterfly.
117 AWARENOW / THE MAYDAY EDITION
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