By chance alone in the first 20 years of my life I experienced multiple near-death experiences, some related to sailing with my parents, some because I worked in a ship yard and others just because. The first time was actually an illness I had when I was young, it was scary, I was in hospital and surrounded by strangers, all talking in their Dr language, with severe faces, yet despite this I felt a sense of trust, that things would be ok. The times I was sailing, some very frightening instances occurred, and one of them was a prolonged sailing from France to UK, over 17 hours in the worst kind of storm one could conjure up, yet during this time, considering the possibilities I found stillness, despite 10 meter waves rising, cresting and falling over our boat, I felt that whatever happens, if we made it home in one piece, that would be great, or if not? then hey, I enjoyed the ride. I’m in my 40’s now and that sense of trust, and acceptance has really formed who I am, how I respond to things. I put this down to something my mum always said to me, (and still does) “no matter how hard it seems right now, or how sad you might feel, everything works out for the best, everything”. I have found this to be true, and I have explored this principle in-depth over the years, finding connections in Taoism, Buddhism, and even quantum physics, but the biggest insight I received upon reflection is that, despite events in our lives being on occasion utterly out of our control, our experience of life is entirely based on how we choose to relate to it, how we choose to react to it, and how we frame the experience. I personally talk to what I believe to be the universe each morning and throughout the day, always as friend would talk, and often in a playful manner, which in my experience reflects back to me the same, almost always.

Hi Aine, yes in hindsight my story has an edge of extreme to it, and as you said there are elements that speak to your experiences too, as I’m certain so to almost everyone in some way. This experience can just as easily be attributed to ‘small’ events too such as a forthcoming business meeting which is potentially scary, which afterwards doesn’t seem as bad as we predicted, if we approach these events in the same way, trusting the outcome to in some way, in even just a small way, add to our experience positively no matter the outcome. We can actively seek out these events when we fully trust the moment, I do anyway. Thanks for your comment, and good luck.