"Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there's no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better." - Harry S. Truman.

Life is testing us and there are really only two options when things happen to you:

Either you grow and you convert that mess into your message,

Or you don’t, and you get stuck.

There is no in-between.

Jonathan is one of the many people affected by HIV and on today’s episode, he shares with us how he ended up having AIDS, how he dealt with the news and how he finally, after eight years, found a way to cope with everything. His hope is that through his actions, and the actions of others that will follow his example, HIV will be viewed as any other chronic disease.

Jonathan Bossaer can definitely be defined as a hero and you will learn that when you hear his story – one that takes a lot of courage to share. He is the host of Positively Alive podcast and also, the Founder and Executive Director of Positively Alive – a Belgian-based charity with two objectives: to help normalize HIV by sharing timely, relevant, positive and empowering messages using social media and to help end the HIV and AIDS epidemic by generating funds to those organizations that need it the most and for research into finding a vaccine and a cure for HIV.

So, listen to Episode 16 of My Fitness Ride, and join us on a journey with a lot of mixed feelings, from shock, anger, frustration, guilt, and shame, to forgiveness, acceptance and a desire to change the world.

Questions I ask:

• Tell us a little more about you - who you are, where you come from and what this all interview is about? (02:44)
• How is your relationship with your parents now? (22:49)
• How did you cope? (24:27)
• When did that moment come? That realization, that awareness that led you to start the process to get into where you are today? (29:41)
• Where is your life going now? What is your mission now? (42:28)
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In this episode, you will learn:

• The story of how Jonathan contracted HIV. (03:41)
• Jonathan’s first reaction when he heard the news. (14:39)
• The role of forgiveness in starting to accept your condition. (35:40)
• The meaning of undetectable is untransmittable. (44:31)
• The reasons why although HIV is not a death sentence anymore, people still get depressed and self-stigmatize themselves. (46:24)

Connect with Jonathan:

• LinkedIn
• Positively Alive Facebook Group
• Positively Alive Podcast
• Donations to the charity group through Paypal