Based on the book Dying to Live: The two Deaths and the One Worth Dying by Monica Hards.

What happens when we die? I’ve thought about this a lot. Let’s get one thing straight. It’s no longer a debate. There is plenty of information out there that will fill you in on exactly what happens. Whether you believe it or not, that is the real key but there are very specific accounts of what happens in and around the afterlife. Today I want to talk about an NDE. Technically Monica Hards passed away. It wasn’t long but it was long enough to affect her in profound ways. She was in the hospital undergoing a C-section when she had near-death experience.

Before we continue I’m going to assume a few things. One is that you’ve heard a lot of this kind of talk before, because it’s been said many times. You’ve heard about the tunnel of white light, accounts of rising out of your body and seeing yourself lying there, the fact that you meet your family when you die and that sometimes you are told it’s not your time before waking up in your hospital bed. There have been lots of Near Death Experiences and many of them follow this pattern. What I like most about Monica Hards story was that she saw, and now understands, the cosmic network that guides our lives.

Monica (Didn’t want to go back) Yea, and I didn’t want to go back, haha.

For me it’s the takeaways, the unique perspectives and the lessons learned that make for an interesting story.  In her book Dying to Live: The two Deaths and the One Worth Dying she admits openly that this was not an easy book to write, because it is so personal. She recounts her experience in vivid detail and shares some brilliant insights about forgiveness, finding our purpose and understanding how the events of our life all connect. 

Fun fact about forgiveness, it’s not about forgiving the people that have wronged you. It’s your ability to forgive yourself for the things you’ve done.  They mean a great deal to you. These situations, they’ve made a mark on your soul. Being able to let go of them is not easy. 

Monica (Feeling) I couldn’t let go of this feeling

Letting go is not easy. It’s an important lesson to learn. Here’s a great example. Listen to Monica talk about her experience with Pedro. Someone she met during her near death experience.

Monica (Pedro) I started meeting people and I was a little surprised cause I always thought you meet the people that were already dead but I met somebody who was alive. It was an unresolved situation and it was more of a big feeling of guilt on my side cause I’d let him down. When I met him later I still had this guilt and I spoke to him and he was like, why? That was long over and done with you know. For him it was nothing. And I put this identity onto me which was not necessary. 

Here’s a great quote from her book “..a broken heart has a crack to let more light in…” I love that. 

Monica (Divorce) I must admit I did have a divorce afterwards but that was maybe because I wasn't speaking about my experience I was just swallowing it all and keeping it to myself and that might have also caused the divorce because I just felt things were different and my perception was different. So little things that would annoy my husband I think yeah but that’s so irrelevant you know you’re worrying about these things that I might have worried about before but it just seemed so strange and I didn’t feel i was in the right place and it took me a long time to accept.

Having a life-altering event can definitely shift your perspective and learning how to come to terms with all that can be another important lesson to learn. How about this one “…The Narcissist has no Empathy.” That’s not a direct quote but it’s pretty close — a little poetic license from me to make a point.  

The thing I like most about this book is the profound importance of the title “Dying to Live”. Sometimes that’s what it takes to shift our perspective and get us thinking clearly or on the righ...