Gifts from the Edge: Stories of the Other Side

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Claudia Watts Edge

Author of the award winning series

Gifts from the Edge

The Ten Things That Dying Taught Me

I died in 1984, years before it was commonplace to hear about the NDE (near-death experience). The survivors’ stories are showing up all over now in movies and books. Even the television news is adding to the growing curiosity and to societies’ quiet acceptance since the early years of acknowledgment of this phenomenon. It is hard to imagine that one can actually die and be brought back to life, and each experience is quite a story to tell, and the telling of the story also comes with a deep sense of responsibility.

Most people are not as interested in how death happened but in what happened while someone was in the great beyond: What was seen and what was heard? The articles and books are scanned for the meat of the story, and the beautiful descriptions and feelings of what it was like to be in heaven. Each near-death story is unique, and yet there is much common ground in the life-after-life story.

Here are ten things I was allowed to bring back with me.

1- Dying is easy. You’ve done it many times before.

As John Lennon said, “I’m not afraid of death because I don’t believe in it. It’s just getting out of one car and into another.” To spend your life fearing the inevitable would be a wasted life. Do your best with every day knowing that some days are going to feel better than others. Lay your head down at night assured that you have done your best with the hours within it. Did you do your best? Because that is a measure of a good day, and no matter how small your achievements may appear to someone else, when you are satisfied within yourself, you have nothing to fear when your time comes.

2- You are here for a reason.

This life is not an accidental happenstance, but rather, a carefully coordinated play that you and others around you contracted to participate in for the experience and advancement of spiritual growth. Think of it as the Holodeck of Star Trek  fame. It is very real as you participate, and after exiting, you get to examine the experience and learn from it. Our lives are a marvel of complicated orchestration and a gift of love from the Creator. It is carefully set up to bring a desired outcome, and before you were born you worked with your higher counsel and the souls around you to assist in bringing it all into fruition. The goal is to achieve the highest outcome, but the plan is not set in stone, and can be adapted as ‘Free Will Choices’ are made while here. Our Free Will trumps all pre-planning and contractual agreements.

3- You are not alone.

You have many who cheer you on from the Other Side, guides, angels, passed loved ones and ancestors have your back as they nudge you towards your intended goal. You have helped yourself with pre-determined road signs and red flags set to nudge you along the way. You were also born with the gift of intuition. It is within you to know and feel when something is off, or not quite right, and if you will stop and listen, it can be of great assistance.

The veil of forgetfulness was necessary, as we must leave the perfection of our connectedness behind, in order to play the game of ‘life.’ The separation and loneliness that you feel while here is intended and is necessary, and not a shunning from God.

4- We are part of the whole.

We are magnificent souls, each an individual thread of Source, our Creator. We, all of us, are necessary to be a complete whole and unified piece, and we are all valued and loved equally as we bring our physical experiences back to share with the spiritual realm. This can only be accomplished by our working together, as none of us will be left behind. All are necessary to weave the perfect tapestry of God.

5- The universe is teeming with life, and the stars are alive and conscious.

While in the rapidly moving tunnel, I found myself in deep space. The tunnel was like a bubble that I could see through, and it provided a perfect vantage point to see and hear the stars as I zoomed past them. Upon approach, the colors would stretch out as if they were moving with me with bright yellow as the main color, followed with patches of red, pink and blue as if they were being licked by fire. The movement created a tail, like a current or a wave, which is where most of the color changes took place. The stars have their own voices, and they grew louder the closer I got. They spoke to me as welcoming and joyful friends, all seeming to have an intimate knowledge of me.

We have many brothers and sisters who are on their own journeys of discovery on many different planets within the universe. Each location is purposeful in its creation for what it offers toward further knowledge, learning abilities and spiritual development.

6- Earth is one of the lowest, hardest places to experience.

Congratulations and bravo, you are both brave and magnificent to have chosen this path of rapid advancement. Achievements here are expedited, which is the attraction of choosing Earth, but they are also extremely hard fought as the struggle for survival is pitted with starvation, hatred, emotional scarring, illness and physical maladies imposed while here. Believe me, you are a rock star and much admired for your bravery.

7- There is a place in Heaven to recuperate.

It is a type of hospital, a respite from the journey here, many stay in a recuperative state for a while after their mission is complete. The esoteric (spiritual) body may be in need of repair from the journey here, worn down with illness and the like, and the soul may also need more time to be re-introduced into the spirit realm. I was shown that my own mother needed this extra time of convalescing, as her entire earthly life was spent expecting a certain outcome from years of religious conditioning. It was shocking and confusing to her to find an entirely different construct in the afterlife than what she had been taught.

8- Believe it or not, you will want to come back again.

This is the reincarnation that we hear about. What I was shown is that coming back is necessary to complete lessons. It is a 360-degree opportunity to walk in another’s shoes and to learn from all sides of the equation. If you are a thief, you  will experience loss as a victim next time, but not as a karmic punishment, but from a different viewpoint for a complete understanding. Can anything good come from the grief of losing a loved one? And can anything good come from such pain? Yes, and it is a planned opportunity, as awful as that sounds here in human form, but yes, much good comes from your pain and suffering. A patient racked with illness leads to an opportunity for others to serve. There can be no more of a complete lesson, than what is experienced from all sides.

You will be excited to do it again because the experience is everything. What is brought back to be shared is the goal. The sacrifice of a ‘short’ amount of time to achieve the intended goal is inconsequential compared to the lesson it will provide for yourself, and the others who will absorb and incorporate it, including God/Source. We are the tools that God uses to experience the physical. We are important foot soldiers in the continued development of God’s Unconditional Love and Knowledge.

9- You are worthy of God’s love and do not need a middleman to have a relationship with God.

I wish it were possible to convey the love that I was shown by God in my experience. I was allowed to know how he truly felt about me through his eyes. It is hard to explain, but I was pulled outside of the scene, and was soon watching myself as God saw me. I was overwhelmed at the pride I had in my own self, even saying aloud, “Wow, she is doing so good, isn’t she?” I do not mean to come off as prideful here, but there will be no higher compliment or achievement for me than to have witnessed his love for me. I am happy to know that one day you will all feel it again too, because you are Magnificent in his eyes, and HE LOVES YOU, UNCONDITIONALLY!

10- Your life review is not intended as a punishment or judgment.

Love and knowledge mean everything, it is all we get to bring back with us, and it is the star of our life review. There is no punishment or sentence put on us, there is only the opportunity to learn from a perceived mistake. Once you have completed your mission, it is reviewed by a counsel of trusted individuals who love you and have only your best interest at heart. Cause and effects of our choices are revealed as grateful lessons. We will watch ourselves in various scenes of our lives, and we will see and feel our actions towards others and how it affected them by actually ‘feeling’ their reactions to what we said, and what we did. For example, seemingly simple occurrences, such as a forgotten bus stop when we shared a smile or conversed with a stranger, may have saved a life, and you would never know it until you see the ripples of your actions during your review.

After seeing mine, I knew the feeling of pride in the ripples of positive action that stemmed from a simple kindness. I also felt the sting of an action that was careless and thoughtless, and the sting is memorable. Your review is not judgement, and no one there has an intent of punishment. You will be much harder on yourself than any of your guides and counsel. Their job is to let you see your own actions so you can learn from them in a setting of love and acceptance.

And that dear reader is the purpose of our Journey