Guest Post by Riley Caron
I often get new insights on life by listening to NDE interviews. I found the following two lessons gave a valuable perspective.
Lesson One
After the lady left her body and was met by her spiritual guide, the guide had her go through hundreds of moments of her current life, but with a twist from the usual life review.
He paused at each moment and asked her, “What were you thinking at that moment?” After doing this over and over again, for what seemed like hours, she became vividly aware of how her thoughts at any moment were profoundly important in what she experienced, and how it affected others.
What a great spiritual practice this would be as we go through the day. I have a next door neighbor I try to avoid because I don’t like to get “trapped” into long conversations with him that I have no interest in. That thought passed through my mind as I briefly met him this morning. Now I’m asking myself, what if I had a totally different thought about him at that moment?
Lesson Two
She felt she had made lots of accomplishments in her life: books she had written, music she had created, and many other things. As she was talking to her guide about these, he interrupted her and said, “Those things don’t matter.”
She said, “What do you mean they don’t matter!?” He said there’s nothing wrong with enjoying your projects, but the only thing that really matters is your relationships, how you connect to others, and how you help others connect to each other.
It’s possible the advice given to her by her guide may not apply to everyone. But it does provide an insightful example. Her book, titled How To Stop Negative Thoughts, gives a more nuanced view than her YouTube interview, on what I labeled as Lesson Two above. In her book, she quoted her spiritual guide as saying the following, where the words in italics are hers:
“Barbara, your projects, your albums, your writing, your work is not what matters most. What does matter…are your relationships. How you treat others, how honest you can be, how much you show your true self, how much you can love…and how much you love yourself. If your music moves people, connects to them, or them to others or more deeply to themselves, then yes, your projects are important. But what really matters are the connections you make between yourself and others.” (Page 46)
Source youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-OeTgr6LDM
Michael Avery
This is a great reminder to be even more watchful of our thoughts every moment. Moments count more than achievements the author discovered. TY
Catherine Ganci
I love moments in time because they seem to be out of time when I’m really paying attention. Yesterday, out for a stroll, I had a moment with a squirrel , we locked eyes & it felt like a Soul to Soul connection of love. Just wish I had some nuts for him/her but I did stand very still & sang the love song to God, Huuuuuuuu. The squirrel became very still & appeared was listening. We spent precious moments together that lasted longer than I thought possible. I find these kind of moments to be the spice of life. Thank you Riley for this sharing ~
Pichaya Avery
Thank you, Riley, for these wonderful insights. You remind us that the true richness of life lies in our connections with others—the love we share, the bonds we nurture, and the moments we cherish together. Your words speak to the essence of what makes our journey meaningful.