LEARN by LIVING through Death

LEARN by LIVING through Death…

Right AWAY I will say…, you do NOT have to die or come close to it to LEARN about LIFE. After all these years talking about my Near-Death Experience, lately I keep running across people writing articles about LEARNING through a “brush with death’ in one way or another. I find myself fascinated by some of the statements made by writers, experiencers, common people, and even well known personalities. I found myself writing down comments and expressions of learning from many of these. Then it occurred to me, why am I having articles like these show up right now in my life? I KNOW one thing for sure, these types of occurrences have meaning, but I may need to really stop and reflect, and ASK, and find out why right now? What is the meaning for me? By the end of this post I’ll share a few answers I have received, but this may be an ongoing and changing dynamic for me personally.

Humanities Team had a free webinar and it was titled, “BRUSH with Death”. I listened to at least some of it, but with my daily life pretty full, I was only able to listen to some of it. I had intentions of going back, but alas that time didn’t happen. They had begun with thoughts from people who FEAR death and how their thoughts triggered such anxiety and hence a complete closing of their heart which could have helped them. Then they began talking about those who have actually crossed the threshold in an NDE and their reaction is the exact opposite. These people describe a profound opening of the heart…not a closing! They speak of a radiant light and an overwhelming wash of acceptance and a sudden, quiet certainty that self is so much larger than the body.

They went on to say…“but the most beautiful part of the story isn’t the light itself. It is what that light does to the  person who returns”!! They go on saying that their “default setting” has changed…

• Fear has given way to a steady unshakable trust. 
• Grief has been reshaped into a continuous connection. 
• Compassion is no longer an effort – it is their natural state. 

And as you might imagine some of the rest of the discussion is about HOW can we have ALL of these in our lives without dying to find out?!

Then soon after reading the above article, The Shift Network was putting out a free webinar given by Suzanne B. O’Brien, RN entitled Life-Changing Insights From the Dying Experience. She talks about spending almost 20 years as a hospice nurse, oncology nurse, and a death doula sitting beside over a thousand people at the end of their life. She believes that the greatest wisdom about how to live is given to us at the end of life.  But why would that be? She believes that part of it is that finally the fear falls away and the distractions and noice of life quiet down and what truly matters becomes clear. In a odd sort of way, I can identify with her thoughts about this. After living with my husband through several “almost” deaths and difficult recoveries and now hospice…you begin to grieve what was and yes really move into the thought…what is it that truly matters in life?!

We are all searching for happiness for most of our earthly life. KNOWING that we belong to something GREATER than ourselves puts an entirely different thought on what is really important in the moment, the now of each day and hour of our lives. Suzanne O’Brien refers to our “spiritual eyes” opening up because again and again the dying share the same truths. She lists five really important concepts that she has learned from the dying individuals.

• That your life is precious.
• That love matters more than anything.
• That you are far more powerful and connected than you may realize.
• And that it is never too late to awaken to a deeper experience of being fully alive.

As you might have guessed by now, all of these words have held great meaning for me. Although,  mostly AFTER my NDE and even more so AFTER we started to write our book. I had so very many really meaningful experiences in life after I began opening up. However, it wasn’t until I took those thoughts rolling around in my mind, began writing with pencil and paper, did I concretely form the emotional bond of what they all meant.

FEARS~ I definitely went through times of fear in a great many ways. Fear that my life might fall apart. Fear that I wouldn’t heal properly. Fear that if I began to speak about my experiences, I would be driven to a place of loneliness. Fear that I would lose the respect as a teacher that I had worked so hard to earn. Fear that if I lost my job…we would be financially in shambles. Fear that I might drive away the LOVE that Doug and I had together. Fear that when my children heard it all, they would slip away from me. LIVING in fear is simply no way to LIVE! It took a toll on my health for sure. But, MAYBE I had to go through this to come alive! Maybe I’ve needed to live through the devastating Parkinson’s disease my husband has endured. Is that what it took for ME to wake up?? Compassion and love have become a way of life.

Living a heart-centered life, deep LOVE for LIFE, and deep appreciation for ALL that is…opens us up in incredible ways! We are very powerful beings and even in the absolute worst of times (or so our mind tries to tell us) there are GIFTS waiting for us. I now know why I was sent all of these articles to read and process. It was to help me SEE in a more profound way. As I received this message through Abraham…I almost couldn’t swallow the FIRST sentence…”Everything works out for me. Everything that I’m wanting and everywhere I’m going – things are lined up for me..” May I suggest to click on this photo and read the rest. Perhaps it will help you too. I had to spend TIME with it, allow my emotions to process…but it ends with . “Life is good.” And YES…my life is good! I needed this in my life right now to really UNDERSTAND that my life is good! How about you?