Souhaits/Filtre magique pour 2022

2021 passing, 2022 rising..

2021- what a year...! Rightly so, a competent successor of 2020.

It started midst a pandemic, comes to its end still midst (?) or towards the end (!!??!!) of a pandemic. Nobody knows for sure...

And somewhere in-between: 

lockdown season 2(maybe 3)- working from home- positive cases- travel restrictions, PCR tests, rapid tests, self tests, - home schooling- 1st dose of covid vaccines, enriched with antivaxxers, funny conspiracy theories, hot topic for discussion even in young age groups, competition astra vs pff vs something modern and some outsiders named after a widely known satellite amongst others, plus an unspoken competition (this vaccine is better than the other)-positive cases going down and deaths as well - the world can’t wait to reopen (schools, job market, working from office-office, end of home-office, hospitality, traveling, economy, life, etc) and finally it happened! -2nd dose of the covid vaccine (and one more round of the same i.e. enriched with antivaxxers, funny conspiracy theories, hot topic for discussion even in young age groups, competition astra vs pff vs something modern and some outsiders named after a widely known satellite amongst others, plus the same unspoken competition i.e. this vaccine is better than the other-At least for a while, in the summer, the planet returned to a state very close to normal (the one we knew B.C. i.e. Before Covid) as if the virus was tired of infecting humans and decided to take a break. So, it was a good opportunity for all of us to take a break. And then Δ(delta) variant(the African) came up; again rising cases and deaths, restrictions, travel restrictions but not so strict, working from both, home and office- Christmas is coming- and suddenly one more Greek letter comes to be added in our lives- Omicron (O, one more headache for the epidemiologists, public health specialists and all the medical professionals worldwide- booster vaccine is needed- queues for the booster- covid spike on the planet - increase in the number of cases and deaths- Christmas with mild restrictions awaiting for more measures to be announced. Lockdown season 4 ahead? Who knows? Maybe..

Fun facts: 

1. By the way, Greek alphabet has 24 letters (for the past few centuries now)

2. Omicron(O) is the 15th letter of the alphabet, Δ(delta) is the 4th. 22 remaining; just saying...

3. There is a board game called pandemic; I played it sometime in 2015. I had no idea back at the time how a real pandemic is. Since January 2020 a reality check proved to me (and to all medical professionals globally) that everything seems different when studying about pandemics in medical books. It’s the usual battle theory vs reality.

All of us are waiting for 2022 to arrive and we hope that it will be better and more positive than 2021, that the pandemic will finally, at some point, belong to the past, yet, we need as societies, as professionals and as individuals to contribute to this. We owe this to ourselves, to our people and most importantly, to the coming generations.

And, this particular time, the last few days of 2021, for many people it is the time for resolutions; the so-called new year’s resolutions. For some it is about resolutions, for others it is about reflection and for others it is about review.

Tailored, I guess, for my profession and for my role within medicine and health and safety, I belong to the last category.

On my 2021 brief review I outline the following (fun facts):

Google and other search machines have not issued medical or other degrees for sure. However, it became more evident than ever before, that a number of individuals found an amount of information and, whilst not having the relevant educational/scientific/professional background, built whole theories upon it. Some of them diminished even scientists. Messing with stupidity? Waste of time.

Did you know that amongst the medical specialties there is one, which is called “knowitallogy”? Funny discovery. Boomers’ invention or not, it is hilarious & pissing. I had no idea about it but when I came across of medical “professionals” of that breed simultaneously, the book “surrounded by idiots” came to my mind. Nice read; reading is never a waste of time. But, surely, it is waste of time to be surrounded by idiots/knowitallogists.

Medical parasites and medical puppets exist. Unfortunately; because they are a waste of our time, they just occupy space and cause noise/junk pollution. Fortunately; because they make it so clear and obvious that their narrative is out-of-date and incompetent. So, they lead themselves out of the market.

I could never imagine that all the medical TV series such as ER, Dr House, Nip Tuck, Greys Anatomy etc. had been so impactful on people; up until the time I realized that non-medically qualified people were insistent and wanted to make decisions on purely medical topics. Back at the time and, as an attempt to trigger a reality check to the real decision maker, I brought the following scenario, as food or thought: let’s say that one of your loved ones requires a special treatment such as heart surgery, brain surgery etc. I would expect that you would search for the advice of specialists upon this specific specialty i.e. cardiothoracic surgeon or neurosurgeon respectively. Right? But, have a look in your decisions: instead of taking the advice of a specialist, even choosing to trust a specialist after having consulted a number of specialists, you trust somebody who claims: “Of course I know this. I have watched every episode of Greys Anatomy, Dr. House, ER, etc. and I can deal with it”. And you know what? You trust this person. It is your decision and it is absolutely respected and it is fine. But it would be hilarious of you to expect from a specialist to compromise and remain in such an environment where incompetence is thriving.

Investment on training pays back. Two legal training courses back-to-back from October until early December of the current year. The last part of the first one, with the perfect background in the right place; what a more suitable background for a zoom cross- examination training other that the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg? And, although for the second one I was in London instead of Strasbourg, where the European Court of Human Rights stands, the instructors made all of us feel that we were in the heart of it. 

Fun fact: back in 2018 my appraiser had “politely” told me off because with four and only CPD training activities I had reached the required 50 CPD units. In 2022 and with only these two legal courses I have almost reached the amount of 50 CPD units. Curious to see my appraiser’s input this year.

Investing on integrity, professional and personal, always pays back. By applying these two, in personal, professional and social settings, the human capital that surrounds you as a person and professional creates unavoidably such strong bonds, which in combination with consistency-transparency-clarity-respect- structured framework, forms thriving teams and builds trust.

Fun fact: When you bond teams and build trust, it becomes obvious to businesses who leads by example and who reigns & divides- “διαίρει και βασίλευε”- being an example to avoid. Seeing who they choose, makes it clear to you whether you belong to that environment or not. And of course, if the balance is negative, no one is a tree to remain in such an environment. At least, this is my advice to everyone, including my patients, colleagues, friends.

On the topic resolutions/reflection/review, do you really believe that everyone should wait the first day of the year to make a new beginning? This may apply to people who are used to procrastination. Is it all about starting something new? Definitely, the symbolism of the date provides a boost to our motivation and hope. But, is it real? Is it about setting a new goal or about achieving faster our goals? It can be each, it can be both. Probably being too engaged to the concept of risk management and risk assessment, I am reviewing the progress of my plans, of my work even of my relationships (personal, professional, social) regularly and keep track of them so as to be able to change and adjust accordingly whatever needs to be changed or adjusted, in order to get the desired results (with human relationships though, you can never be 100% sure that this is feasible). That said, I am probably quite lucky that my birthday is near to the mid-year review (convenient timeframe for the 2nd or 3rd review of progress)

Fun fact: Almost every year on this date I choose at least one thing to throw away. The same happened also this year. Boomers’ work culture and its toxic sub-products, including medical parasites and medical puppets, thrown away. No return. Thank you. Next challenge.

From Kiribati to Baker Island today and tomorrow the year change is going to be celebrated in 40 time zones.

Fun fact: @ the same time some people in some cultures turn/synch their brains a couple of decades back.

In the memorable moments of this year obviously the first position belongs to all these moments we spent with the people we love. The second position belongs to the moments we spent accomplishing our goals, on a personal and professional level, on our own and with our people. Boosted to achieve more, to get higher. The moments we got the reward of our efforts in one more difficult year, that was challenging us in every possible way and from many different angles. The third position belongs to these scattered small moments, which made our day, made such a difference and filled us with unique feelings, which cannot be easily described. Such as: that moment on Rhodes Island when I first saw in person one of my ex- colleagues, with whom we had never met physically due to teleworking, that unique moment in the lobby of the hotel in Luxembourg, where I met for first time two other members of the same team. These seconds, when we looked at each other for the first time, were so overwhelmingly filled by emotions, which words cannot describe. Likewise, with another one in Place Guillame and another one at a café, which, literally, had a lamp inspired by coronavirus. That moment, when a CEO came to Gare Du Midi just to  meet me for live season’s wishes, when a number of people found me on this social network tool to send me updates on their health and ask me how I am doing (since I am not working for their employer anymore) and the list goes on...

A few people caught me really unprepared; they send me Christmas cards. Cards arrived from 6 separate places, 3 continents, all of them my patients (two of them former patients). Therefore, I needed to come up with something genuine and unique. 

And this is why, in my attempt to become more creative, I recruited Panoramix, accepting also a challenge...

So, here we are:

Souhaits/Filtre magique pour 2022

Ingrédients et dosages:

 Bonne santé- illimite, Joie - illimite,  Rire -illimite, Amusement - illimite, Succès- illimite- L'équilibre travail-vie,  Bonne chance illimite, Resilience,  Aimer- illumine, Beaucoup d'eau- Beaucoup de soleil

Top up when needed!

Be mindful of Obelix! It’s the XXXXL guy with the menhirs!