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It seems many of those who have previously experienced destitution appreciate abundance more. I grew up in abject poverty but today my cup overflows with abundance. Often I do volunteer work helping to serve meals at a soup kitchen for those who have little to nothing, this helps me to keep things in perspective. The true and only lasting wealth is within us, the only true and lasting victory is in our heart, at the core of our being. Remember, suffering is in the mind.
Human beings may have death-like experiences many times during the course of their life. For me, losing my eyesight was a death-like experience. When a person grieves they are not only grieving the loss of a loved one they may also be feeling the loss of a part of themselves. This loss of self is a death-like experience for them. Often a grieving person may say “a part of me has died” in referring to the loss of a loved one.
We experience death in many ways before we actually die and relinquish our physical body. The ways in which we experience death while we are still alive are as preparations, confronting our own mortality, and allowing us to taste loss and letting go before we lose our body and have to let go. Change is constant and grieving loss is all about dealing with the process of personal change. Life, in my opinion, is more about process than it is about who, or what, we interact with during that process.
Process is journey, the rest of it is just the content of that journey. A healthy person experiences a wide range of emotions, including anger, sadness, and yes joy as well. It is not so much what we experience as it is how we react, or respond, to our experiences. When we experience something it means that we have connected with it. Experiences may involve all of our senses, our mind, and the depths of our feelings. Experiences are the great teacher in life. At our core, we are life. Life is not what we do rather life is what we are. Life on a journey learning from itself. Learn well and there may never be any lack.
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