I was born and raised in the city of Malaga, the capital of “La Costa del Sol”, in the Southern region of Andalucía, Spain. My ancestry goes back to the XVI Century, from Castile, Spain
I am a product of Franco’s Spain. While a lot debated about dictatorial governments, I can only judge by my experiences and priorities.
Some people say that Spain was under a tyrannical regime. However if you were an honest person, apolitical or pro-Franco’s politics, and of Roman Catholic persuasion, you weren’t exactly in nirvana. But I have traveled the world, lived in France, reside in Australia for most of my adult life, and I have never experienced the same feeling of safety as I did then.
Schooled by The Marist Brothers (considered the leading educators of their time), as a student I was quite diligent, contrary to my father’s wishes to join him in his business, I excelled in Mathematics and Latin, attracting the favors of the clergy. In High School, my peers voted me as the president of our Eucharistic Society. My spiritual mentor recommended me, and as a natural progression, I was destined for the Seminary.
I found an affinity to learning, which to this day never failed me; it is the love of my life. I enjoyed studying Philosophy, Theology, Liturgy, and especially Latin. However although in just my late teens, I started doubting my vocation, I had more questions every day than I found answers, and the explanation that was given (we weren’t allowed to interpret most passages in the Bible) left me wanting. Unfortunately, I felt my faith was not strong enough nor worthy of the cloth.
I felt so terribly unhappy and distressed that finally my headaches were diagnosed as effects from a tumor in my right maxilla. I had four very cruel experiences; they incised bone from my face to stop the malignancy. Fortunately, medical bed manners and aftercare service have improved enormously, at times I could only call their treatment inhumane (akin to the horror during the Spanish Inquisition).
One time, I saw an incredibly bright light while in the theatre; almost uncomfortable to my eyes in the corner of the room. At the time I thought very briefly that it had to be the Holy Spirit, then like in a dream I was engulfed by the light and looking down to the center of the room. I saw a group of men and women in odd uniforms and masks, desperately working on this unusual looking table with a big round light above their heads, I didn’t recognize anyone, all of a sudden I sensed they were trying to revive me! I don’t know what made me descend quietly and join my body once more.
I never spoke about this episode to anyone, including my parents, when they told me many months later that I had passed away for several minutes. I am a logical person; I didn’t want to believe what happened that one time in my life, and didn’t tell for fear of ridicule, until recently, when several people have claimed similar ephemeral outcomes.
Naturally, my ambition of life in the priesthood came to an abrupt end, my medical prognosis was not very positive, to say the least, I could be here today and gone tomorrow, I was told five years in remission would indicate a lesser likelihood of recurrence.
I did a course to have more real job prospects, and while living in France, a friend of mine told me that he had heard of a recruiting promotion of this unbelievable country, somewhere at the end of the world called Australia, I was quite intrigued; my adventurous side came to the fore. I attended an interview with a Consulate’s representative, and he apparently found me an appropriate type to immigrate to Australia.
When I arrived in Sydney, Australia, it looked much more civilized than I expected/wanted, the disappointment was short lived, and soon became charmed by one of the most beautiful cities in the world, very cosmopolitan, I felt at home, and the people embraced me too.
Employed as a trainee manager, although I couldn’t speak English at that time, my employers spoke French, the General Manager was Canadian, and the manager was from France.
Most of my free time entirely dedicated to learning English, I enrolled in a course, and within a couple of months I found the language fun to learn, my Latin foundation served me well, grammatical English rules were easy to handle, compared to the intricacies of the Spanish grammar. I watched TV get used to the colloquial Australian, and my confidence grew.
I was introduced to the Australian dream of “home ownership”, by a local Real Estate Agent I befriended. This agent subsequently assisted me in purchasing my first home, which 18 months later I was able to sell, and profited sufficiently to clear all my debts and be left with enough capital to use as the deposit on two other properties.
Imagine my horror upon discovering the Bank manager and I had misunderstood each other to the point where my mortgage repayments were more than my salary! A second job was my immediate solution.
This Real Estate experience changed my direction in life, although I had an excellent executive position with good prospects of advancement, I resonated with the property business.
Real Estate was almost a revelation for me, I had the opportunity to be independent, creative, and offer a product of enormous benefit to anyone, a real win-win situation. I just couldn’t anticipate any negatives.
While doing my licensing course, I became aware of my inadequacies regarding the law of the land, and the English language. So I decided to attend The Sydney Faculty of Law, with absolutely no intention of becoming a Lawyer nor work in the legal field, but to gain knowledge in the elaborations of contracts, leases, etc., also to be more proficient in English, to help me communicate at a higher level. The dictionary was my best friend; it was a very hard time for me. However, my vocabulary exploded, my confidence sky-rocketed; without a doubt one of the best decisions I ever made, it also saved me a lot of money in my business, I was able to act for myself on most property transactions and with litigants.
At that time, I involved myself helping the community in a small way; Appointed Justice of the Peace, and I was an unpaid interpreter for the local police station. Although I didn’t anticipate how emotional this occupation could turn out to be; one evening I was called to interpret for a Spanish middle-aged family, their only 14-year-old daughter, for no apparent reason threw herself off their apartment’s balcony to her death; most distressing.
My business of selling, building and developing Real Estate flourished, I found doing business the way I enjoyed was a winner, my formula added value by incorporating integrity without reproach, and fair/ethical practices guaranteed. My client base grew exponentially, due to the word of mouth recommendations.
I just loved doing business, especially when you see people benefit as a direct result of your actions. I expanded into other occupations, i.e., manufacturing prefabricated house panels, and a three restaurant franchise system, while maintaining my presence in Real Estate.
Life is good, although not a bed of roses (The Wolf Inside Of Me), especially for a person with a predisposition to cancer. I had more than my share of ailments, and financial challenges. However life goes on, and I am very grateful for my life, I believe I am blessed. Probably the best thing that happened to me is the fact of having had cancer at such an early stage in life, it changes your natural philosophy, and you seem to gain a calmness and acceptance that serves you well when most needed.
Approximately some eight years ago, with 180 employees on our wage files, tragedy struck, I suffered a near-fatal skiing accident.
As I hit the rock formation, I heard a crunch in my skull, and almost instant ethereal calm filled all my senses, just accepted the inevitable, and by this unconscious action, I stopped a higher level of blood flow to the brain.
Due to major brain hemorrhage, and the following surgery, I was released from hospital with severe depression, mental and physical disability, and a whole lot of drugs (I later found that the side effects were much worse than the cause).
It took me years to recover from the disastrous skiing accident (M. Schumacher’s replica). Hence my search for a natural product, I just couldn’t take any more narcotics to relieve my pain, and Natural Magnetic Therapy gave me a life worth living.
My full recovery has been miraculous. I was skeptical at first. However, open-minded as I didn’t see any other options being a zombie on opiates, so I persisted for some eight months, today I enjoy the full mobility and best of health.
I am so fortunate and grateful to be still alive and enjoying the best of health and fitness that I would like to impart some of my experiences, and if just one person in the world is helped to improve his/her health and well-being, I have achieved my goal.
