A Near Life Experience

I had the wonderful opportunity to hang out with a dear friend the other night and we were talking about near death experiences and the way they changed a person for the negative/positive.  My friend commented that he had heard example after example of these people who had a near death experience become more compassionate and selfless, but ironically would often cease frequenting their church or place of worship.  I then talked of my near death experience with the car accident and for me it was the exact opposite.  While we were in this mode of thought my friend jokingly said that he has near life experiences, but little did he know, he had just coined a new phrase.  The more I thought about the constructs of what a near life experience would be, the more I fell in love with it, so let me break down my thought process:

Near death experience                                                         

*One faces the possibility of death                             

*One contemplates a life after death                         

*Most times a person looks back on this with remorse, as all they want to do now is live.     

                                                                                           
Near life experience

*One faces the possibility of life

*One contemplates a death after life

* A person looks at the experience and is so involved in the experience they would like to die to be done with it, or die in happiness. (or put more beautifully by someone else, a brilliant moment of clarity that shines amongst the darkness of our life)

I know this is incredibly simplified, so let’s see if I can explain this plainly without losing the epiphany I had.   Death causes us mortals to question and come to terms with our mortality, but as my friend reminded me, “we are not creature of decay.”  We are meant to be healthy and live rich full lives, but I feel we get stuck on things that keep us in a box and focused only on our demise.  As many of you know, I have been going through some hard trials lately.  Obviously they are trials, meaning they are in no way easy to deal with, but they are near life experiences.  These trials force me live my life fully and in a way that hurts while I stretch to fit the experience.  It makes me be present in what I am going through as well as encourages me to think on living in a way that I would be proud of my choices in death.   There are many a day I would love to just roll over and die (excuse the depressive theatrics), but remembering my choice to live, and live proudly, I face my near life experience.  After all aren’t these things that we are even here on this earth to experience!  Like a near death experience, a near life experience should change our lives as we have a new focus and a broader scope of what we are and what we are doing. 

I am not trying to make this post about my personal struggles as that is not what this post is about, but rather trying to explain what I have learned through my experiences. I would love your feedback and if you feel you can explain what I am trying to get across more acutely, then please post a comment with your thoughts!