Hard To Swallow: Introduction

“Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”

John Lennon. 

I didn’t plan to write this and the many chronicles that will follow.

I thought my professional life was all about coaching guys who wanted to be good, great or amazing in their sports. 

I thought I would build up, step by step, my online presence with video courses (just released the first one about footwork in tennis), and write a book for helping the parents of those kids who aim for the stars. 

I also thought my next step would be to coach the next Federer and help him to reach the top of the world!..

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Well, while I still have all of these ideas in mind, another project, probably more or at least as important for my soul, has arisen. 

In February last year (2020), when this idea of lock downs started to spread around the world because of a new virus, I felt my intuition telling me: “this doesn’t feel right.”

And so I embarked in a personal journey to understand with my rational mind what my unconscious was whispering to me. 

One core idea about intelligence is, to me, to be able to gather many opposite perspectives, ponder them, listening deeply, and so step by step we get a clearer idea of what’s going on. To the despair of my wife who was witnessing my transformation, I’ve used the same method that I’ve done all my life once I’m interested in something: obsession! 

You see, I have had many of these in my life: it started with tennis and the myriads of lessons that come with this wonderful sport, that lead me to personal and spiritual searches, some diving into the yoga world, a continued practice of meditation, a constant search for strength in all its forms, nutrition, breathing to name a few. 

I would not say that my obsessive addictive nature is always healthy, and hey, this is how I learn!

Mis-takes to learn

For instance, I was just mentioning nutrition. 

For 4 and half years I was a vegetarian. 

I did believe this was the right thing for me to do. 

At first I did feel freer, cleaner. 

I learned later that this is a typical first response for those who start this life choice. Also typical is the lack of vitamin B12 and injuries that come in the package a few weeks/ months later.

Stubborn as I am, I had to go till I broke down to start reconsidering my choice: early September 2015, I was constantly tired even with 2 naps a day. I went to see a therapist who helped me to detoxify from heavy metals, to get rid of many allergies, and to change my eating habits. 

This could not be your truth and you will see this is one the main point of this piece of work I’m about to share: we are all unique and we are all on a journey, individual and collective. 

What I mean is that we do help each others sharing our truths, and step by step, we change, we grow, we become aware of our mistakes, we evolve. 

Back to this last year…

As I said, I did embark on a big search. 

I started to read about prisoners of War. I understood why Frankl’s book, Man’s Search For Meaning, is so often quoted: what a life changing manuscript! 

I also read about manipulation, starting with Edward Bernay’s book Propaganda. 

This man was the mastermind behind women starting to smoke in the 30’s. He helped countless government agencies and big companies to change their reputations and shape public opinions. 

One take-away for me is that in his opinion the public is unable to be intelligent so we must to tell them what to think and do. So thoughtful, thank you!

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I finally looked for men and women who didn’t agree with what has become the official narrative related to our current crisis. And they are so many! Ah yes, you won’t hear much about them in the main-scream media.

I’ve watched countless videos of doctors, biologists, whistle blowers, lawyers, and many more that I now consider spiritual warriors. 

As a side note, I also get out of Facebook and Instagram as soon I witnessed their censuring and propaganda agenda. Good, I had a hard time to get rid of this addiction, now it’s done thank you!

What did I get from this? 

At first, this thirst for knowledge was personal: I just wanted to know more and more!

And then, as I dived into disturbing topics that I knew existed and didn’t feel inclined to pursue before (no wonder!), I started to shift inside. 

For 5 months, I felt waves of anger facing the truth that was unfolding in front of me. Ok, it’s been more than anger at times, like when I was ready to fight with a security guard who wanted to impose wearing gloves to the supermarket clients. Not a good idea to attempt to impose anything on Benoit …

This anger situation remained till my wife ultimately said: “enough, I don’t want to live with an angry person!”

Ok, ok then!And here I am back to visit my EMDR therapist. See, sometimes I’m able to listen. When it makes sense!

Anyway, as usual with this therapist, in one session I was transformed: much less anger, strong resolve instead. The big take-away is that “anger is en energy that needs to be directed toward something”, she taught me. 

Hence the idea of this sharing. 

Aren’t you glad I’m willing to share frustration and anger with you?!? 

Well, you know, I like to share the good stuff 🙂 

More seriously, I do believe the world population needs an upgrade. And this is my participation. 

What’s the goal of this sharing

My life mission remains the same: to help me and others to liberate themselves, and to get strong mentally and physically. 

While the content of what will follow is definitively educative, I do intend to make it solution-based. 

I have no business promoting fears, we have more than enough of it this type of strategy these days!

On the other hand, to inform then to suggest ideas for you and I to embrace, this seems more interesting!

Yes, we do need to awake in our consciousness. And then we need to act. Now. 

How do we change ourselves/ our society?

There are several schools of thought in this regard. 

You can think about the 5 Steps of Grief: anger, denial, negociation, sadness and finally acceptance. We all get through them, and not only when we need to mourn someone. 

You could also consider Shopenhauer’s assertion: “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”

Or you could relate to what my favourite author, Steven Pressfield, has to say related to fighting our own Resistance (read The War of Art to start with if you’re intrigued). 

And for sure my Resistance has had lots of things to say so that I don’t write and share this Hard To Swallow’s project.

Things like:

• Who are you to share these things? You are not an expert, stay in your lane! 
• How will people perceive you? Are you really willing to look like a fool?
• For sure some will call you a conspiracy theorist or right winger! (More on this topic first chapter coming up)

These kinds of lovely thoughts inside. And so I did battle, sometimes thinking “maybe I can just let this go…” (this is the negociation step in the 5 Steps of Grief.)

In short, I’ve had to face my fears and respond to the calling, Joseph Campbell’s style, here we go!

The final trigger? 

When my parents and an ex-girl friend got “vaccinated” (I put “” because these are definitely not vaccines in my mind, sorry). 

No regret

What will you think of yourself and what you’ve done in your life as you’re about to die? 

Both a very provocative and powerful question…

To answer this question could lead us to make difficult choices. Taking risks is also part of the deal. 

We are then inspired to expand beyond our comfort zones, pushing our boundaries further and further away. 

Life pleasures are great, and at some point life is too shallow when we only live for them. 

My answer to this question of the moment I’m about to die…

—> I definitely don’t want to have the regret for not having informed others about the potential harms they can do to themselves! 

—> sure it’s great to have helped a few selected tennis players getting stronger, and wouldn’t it be even better to inspire thousands or more to be stronger in their lives?! 

—> and what about being a voice for change, for wisdom, for listening to our hearts rather than our fears…

—> and finally, what about having taken the opportunity, this one shot Eminem talks about in his song, to be a voice for gathering people rather than separating them. 

Yes, it’s possible to have different opinions and still love each others, respect each others.

Not only possible, it’s very healthy!

Symptoms Vs Causes 

When a player keeps missing “easy” forehands under pressure, you have 2 possibilities: 

• train his forehand thousands of times. 
• discuss with him so we can understand what causes these errors. 

The former treats the symptoms, the latter the root causes. 

If you go to train in Spain (or in many academies/ federations around the world), you’ll get the first approach. 

“To be confident, a player must be able to hit the balls even when he sleeps!”, Luis Bruguera once told me during a heated meeting.

In my mind, this is a good approach…when the root cause is dealt with! 

A fear, a tension, a belief, a movement that doesn’t correspond to him, most likely will keep holding him back.

Once addressed, go for it! Before, you might waste your time and energy going in a wrong direction. 

Based on our world issues, we humans have to look at what’s going on, the lies, the corruptions, the puppet masters, the criminals. This is the big deal.

Otherwise we keep running like lemmings to their next crash, thinking this was the best thing to do because we “have to”. 

Well, we don’t have to. We don’t have to do anything. 

We can choose though. And already, being in a place of choice is much much better than victims.

Then repeat the process to all the big issues our world is facing at the moment. 

The topics I’m considering to talk about

As you understand, covid will take some space in this sharing, and maybe not in a way you would expect.
Yes, I’ll talk about the effective treatments, and these “vaccines”. Then we’ll move on. 

What about immunity to start with? Nutrition, breathing and the kind of sport to make us stronger.

Then we’ll talk about fear, and fear control. 

What about how to separate people in all possible ways? In this case, meditation and ways to find peace within are in the program. Reconnecting with ourselves and others!

We’ll address the “real criminals in charge”, aren’t they amazing…

Medias, social medias, climate change bioengineered, immigration waves. Freedoms.

Perpetual wars strategy. Petrol. Energy. Fake news. Inequalities. Debts. False flags operations. Patriots vs globalists. Slavery. Hollywood. And, if I have the guts to do, sex and child trafficking, the number one issue by far. 

Believe it or not, it’s all linked in a very, very clear way. 

Again, all of these topics, as dire as they might seem, could be resolved. Together. 

I won’t pretend I have solutions for each of these right now. My specialty is to help others being strong and free, you bring whatever is yours.

In any case, awareness is the first step. A core raw awareness to start with. 

Big decisions will follow. Individual and collective ones. 

And each of us bring a piece of solution for all of these challenges.

A big note of optimism

“A breakthrough often comes up after a break down”, said one of my yoga teachers. 

I believe in human’s potential. When we’re focused on solutions, our creativity is limitless.

The only challenge, to me, is to look at the right place. We’ve been mislead, now it’s time to wake up.

I’ll end this introduction with this story that I like that illustrates my point. 

Nasruddin the smuggler was leading a donkey that had bundles of straw on its back. An experienced border inspector spotted Nasruddin coming to his border.

“Halt,” the inspector said. “What is your business here?”

“I am an honest smuggler!” replied Nasruddin.

“Oh, really?” said the inspector. “Well, let me search those straw bundles. If I find something in them, you are required to pay a border fee!”

“Do as you wish,” Nasruddin replied, “but you will not find anything in those bundles.”

The inspector intensively searched and took apart the bundles, but could not find a single thing in them. He turned to Nasruddin and said, “I suppose you have managed to get one by me today. You may pass the border.”

Nasruddin crossed the border with his donkey while the annoyed inspector looked on. And then the very next day, Nasruddin once again came to the border with a straw-carrying donkey. 

The inspector saw Nasruddin coming and thought, “I’ll get him for sure this time.”

He checked the bundles of straw again, and then searched through the Nasruddin’s clothing, and even went through the donkey’s harness. But once again he came up empty handed and had to let Nasruddin pass.

This same pattern continued every day for several years, and every day Nasruddin wore more and more extravagant clothing and jewelry that indicated he was getting wealthier. 

Eventually, the inspector retired from his longtime job, but even in retirement he still wondered about the man with the straw-carrying donkey.

“I should have checked that donkey’s mouth more extensively,” he thought to himself. “Or maybe he hid something in the donkey’s rectum.”

Then one day he spotted Nasruddin’s face in a crowd. “Hey,” the inspector said, “I know you! You are that man who came to my border everyday for all those years with a donkey carrying straw. Please, sir, I must talk to you.”

Nasruddin came towards him and the inspector continued talking. 

“My friend, I always wondered what you were smuggling past my border everyday. Just between you and me, you must tell me. I must know. What in the world were you smuggling for all those years? I must know!”

Nasruddin simply replied, “donkeys.”