Some years ago I had one of those near-death experiences that everyone who has ever had one writes about. You've read the stories—they usually go something like this: "I was suddenly floating above my body..." or, "I was floating toward this very bright light and my dead Aunt Matilda and grandfather were there with beautiful angels and music was playing..."
Yeah, well, I may be from California Woo-Woo Land, but for me it wasn't anything even remotely like that. One minute I was lying on a gurney in the recovery room talking to a nurse, and the next I was in the blackest black nothingness I'd ever known. At some point I crawled out of that hole to find the code team (of which I was normally a member), staring down at me, looking somewhat perplexed and horrified by my heart's irresponsible attempt to make an unscheduled stop.
A couple of days later while looking over my EKG strips from the event, I had an epiphany that made more sense than anything I'd learned thus far in my life. It's extremely simple—the thing that matters most in life is the giving and receiving of love and compassion, the two wisdoms that flow through the heart. Read More