The 10 Things I Learned When I Died And Came Back To Life

I technically died and came back to life. The details of my accident I’m not going to go into because they probably won’t interest you as much as the rest of what I have to say. I remember everything that happened while I was gone from my body. Actually, what I learned, or was told, changed me. It changed my entire life and every single part of my understanding of the universe and our existence.

I wanted to share it with you. I couldn’t bring myself to write this under anything but anonymity, because some of these things are extremely… well… hard to believe unless you’ve seen them firsthand. I don’t mean to say that you have to believe what I have seen and have been told, because our beliefs do not have to align, but I do ask you to consider them, and to see how just maybe they could fit into the life you already understand to be true.

For context, I am a 32-year-old woman with a college education and a family strongly rooted in their Christian faith. A religion that I, of course, accepted and was devoted to until I experienced some truths about the world, and from that I realized that I had to go down my own path of understanding. Again, I don’t mean to say that you have to renounce your religion or anything, I simply tell you this to have the context of the fact that I did not acknowledge or believe anything I am about to write until I saw it myself, after the doctors had pronounced me dead.

1. The thing about the shining bright light is true. I’m not sure if you’ve heard that before, but people have said that after you die, you see a really bright white light and you want to move toward it. That is exactly what happens.

2. But that’s not all. There are these people, some would call them maybe guardian angels, that are actually called our “spirit guides.” They follow us through our everyday life. We designated them to ensure we stay on the right “path.” They’re there when you die. They help bring you back to the “other side:” or as I like to call it, home.

3. So here’s the thing: we are here for a purpose. To “develop our souls.” We are not our physical bodies. They are just manifestations of our real beings. It’s through different experiences that we are able to grow. We, along with a higher being, planned all of this with a purpose. There’s no such things as coincidence.

4. There are such things as soul mates. However, they are generally misunderstood. There are many people that are your “soul mates.” They were, for the lack of a better phrase, cut from the same spiritual cloth as you were. These are family members, friends, lovers, all of whom we connect with unexplainably and “just know” that they fit us.

5. But when it comes to “soul mates” in the way that people often think of them, a romantic significant other who is perfect for you, well, it’s a bit different. I have heard it phrased as a “twin flame” and so I’m going to call it that for the lack of having anything better to refer to it as. These are the literal, actual, other halves of us. And it’s not easy to meet them. In fact, because being with them brings together your unified being, all that’s still broken and unhealed inside of you comes right to the surface. It’s a traumatic thing, actually. But it’s love like you truly couldn’t imagine experiencing it until you have.

6. Earth is actually one of the lowest, darkest places in the universe. We come here to perfect more rapidly. It’s not that there aren’t beautiful things in this life, it’s just that there are more challenges posed for us as opposed to other places in the universe.

7. One of the first things I experienced once I was “out” of my body was seeing myself as I used to be, in former lives. Yeah, I know. Reincarnation is real. The purpose of it is that you need to have a variety of experiences, as different people in different circumstances, in order to achieve well-rounded growth. Think about it: if you believe that God is all-loving, you will acknowledge that it’s not fair that some people in this life are “privileged” and some have to suffer so. The concept of “heaven or hell” and “judgment day” in Western culture is really more or less just to make people behave. If everyone knew that they’d just move on to another experience, rather than be banished to hell if they do something that doesn’t follow a rule, they wouldn’t be as compelled to do what’s right.

8. Your instincts will always know. Your soul will make your body react to things even when your brain can’t process them. Even when they don’t make sense, but especially so, you need to listen to what your instinctual feelings tell you. It is the most effective tool you will ever have.

9. If you’re confused, which you might be, I’ll put it simply. Here are the principles to live by: be good, be honest, be true to yourself. Know that material things mean nothing, nor does your physical body beyond being able to let you experience things. Love people unconditionally. All people. All that matters in the end is the good that’s inside of you and how you tapped into that yourself and brought it to the world.

10. You don’t have forever here. In fact, many of the things that you love and cherish you won’t have for long. Time is something we made up. Life is just a succession of experiences. We use “time” to measure them, but it’s not real. You’ve experienced that when “time seems to go so slowly” or quickly– it’s because it doesn’t exist. All you have is what you have right now, and you might not have it forever. You don’t know when the experience will end and you certainly can’t measure that by time. So appreciate what you have, and be good, but don’t be afraid of what’s to come. Please take my word for it that neither life nor death are scary. Just ground yourself in your own little bit of happiness that radiates within you. It’s there, I promise, you just need to learn to tune in before it’s just too late.