By Kimberly Henry Staff Writer for UNSUGARCOATED Media

The past year has shown the world that we are capable of enduring so much more than we ever thought possible, as we have faced tragedy on the global, national, and community scale. But how do we find silver linings in the face of personal tragedy?

This week on UNSUGARCOATED with Aalia, we are joined by Paul Rogers, a bestselling author who got in a fight with a freight train and came out on top! Aalia sits down with Rogers to discuss trauma, transformation and recovery.

Rogers has undergone many transformations in his life, some by choice—like when he left his successful law career to become an educator and kite surf instructor. Other transformations, Rogers endured by necessity. Not only has Rogers survived skin cancer, but he has survived a train accident and traumatic brain injury (TBI) as well.

Rogers brings his lifetime of experience weathering change and tragedy to this intimate conversation with Aalia, a fellow cancer survivor. He reveals to Aalia why seeing transformation as a take-off point instead of a landing is essential to discovering the truth of what “transformation” is and how we achieve it. 

But does transformation mean we forget trauma? Together, Aalia and Rogers unpack what it means to be a survivor when recovery is a life-long journey.

Rogers, who still experiences chronic pain and paralysis from his train accident, sees trauma as something that changes you forever. But, he shares through a lopsided, yet infectious smile, that doesn’t mean you never heal.

“I really don’t believe that you ever get over [trauma]. I think that you make it a part of you,” said Rogers. “It’s up to you what you then can do with it.”

For Rogers, taking that responsibility was the key to taking back his power and to answering the question, how do we find stories of love in our darkest moments? Helping other survivors answer this question has become central to Rogers’ own healing, though being strong to help others is not as simple as putting on a happy face.

“It’s not putting on a front. The reason I do what I do is because it makes me happy, and that is the person I want to be…. So I try to spend more and more time with that person. And these things… they all come at a cost, at a physical, mental cost. But it’s a cost I’m willing to pay.”

Now Rogers finds purpose in using his experience to help others navigate through recovery. Throughout the interview, Rogers reveals his story of recovery to help UNSUGARCOATED’s listeners, and answers questions like, how do we define “transformation?” 

What does it look like to be a survivor on a lifelong journey of recovery?

How can we take the lessons of personal transformation and use them to heal our communities?

Aalia dives into these questions and more with Rogers in a ccnversation as inspiring as it is UNSUGARCOATED. To hear more about this candid comversation, check out the full episode below.