Heaven, for Real?

We've all heard how some people who have passed away and then came back to life say they saw "a light" or "the light."  And that Heaven is real.  And that the person feels calm afterwards about death.  Calm and peace and not scared.

Well, I have never met anyone of these people in real life; only seen them on a talk show or saw a movie about it.

So, is it real?  Did they really see the light?  Really see/feel Heaven?

I visited a friend in the hospital a couple of weeks ago.  I don't know him all that well, just really through facebook, and he knows a lot of my friends.  He has been sick for over a year, and that previous night he was sent to the ER by his doctor.  His birthday was the following day so I decided to surprise him with a short visit.

It was really tough on me, I have to admit, because even though it has been 4 years since my Mom passed, hospitals touch me very deeply and emotionally because it reminds me of all her suffering.

As I walk in to his room, we said our hellos and he's laying in his hospital bed as a nurse is trying to find a vein in his arm to re-hook his IV.  Right away somehow it came up that I was nervous because of my Mom.  He asked me how she was doing.

You see, we REALLY don't know each other that well, because otherwise he would have known she passed away already. 

I told him she passed 4 years ago.  Without skipping a beat he says with a beautiful, calming smile, "I'm sorry, at least you will see her again in Heaven."

I looked at this man I hardly know telling me this and I thought, "um okay."

He then shared that almost about a year ago he was flat-lined after a routine gall bladder procedure and he died on the table.  But the doctors and nurses revived him.

He went on to share with me that he had seen his parents.  And that he is no longer scared of death. 

I asked all sorts of questions!

Were you upset they brought you back after seeing them?   Yes, very.
Is there really a light?  Yes.
So you aren't afraid of death now?  No, I will be at peace with my family.  And so will you be.

I started to bawl.  Like a little girl.  Like the little girl in this 45 year olds' body that missed her Mom more than life itself still 4 years later of her passing.

I told him, you never know what paths were meant to cross and I knew at that moment that I was not meant to see my friend in the hospital b/c it was his birthday, but because I was to hear that I will see my Mom again.

Even as I type this I'm crying.

The magnitude of that 5 minute exchange of my life will last me a lifetime.  I actually KNOW someone who saw the light.  And yes it's peaceful.  And yes you feel comfort and yes you see your loved ones again.

He was not afraid at all as he laid there in bed telling me this story.  His eyes were FULL of happiness and knowledge of the day he would be back with his parents.

It was on the one the most amazing things I have ever been through in my life.

(link)

Who You Want to Be Around

I expressed to a friend that I was having some difficulties accepting that it's really okay to not want to be around negative people or rude people or stressful people; people that bring me down.

I heard that our tolerance for things (and people) goes down in our 40s.  Boy, I can RELATE!  

I want to be around people that make me smile, bring me peace, and are positive and make me happy.

HOWEVER.  Before he and I had this convo I'm about to share, I would have worded that statement as: I can't tolerate being around people that bring me down.

Do you see the difference?  One is actually more positive.  And explaining who I DO want to be around and how I WANT to feel.

Here is what he said that really helped me view things in a different way:

I've decided I only want to hang with the good people in our industry.

As you get older, you definitely come to realize there are precious few people really worth sharing your time with.  I always tell people, "I've only got so many minutes and so many words left in me. I'm not going to waste either on people I don't really want to be with."

As for the "tolerance" issue… I prefer not to look at it as a lack of tolerance. That's for crusty, grouchy old farts…of which there are many.  I prefer to think of it as finding a certain peace and piece of mind that leads us to finally really understand what and who are important.  At that point, that's all that matters.

I think of intolerant people as being on edge and spring loaded.  I've become the opposite.  Much more relaxed, laid back.  Big difference.

I don't have time, nor do I want to expend the energy, to dislike people.  I just don't allow them space in my life.  I focus on the things and people that make me happy.