Death And Suffering

I have been very close to death three times and had one near death experience.  I have also experienced years of pain and suffering.  Each of the experiences were traumatic and not the least bit enjoyable, especially if I fought them.  However, in addition, they each contained gifts that I could have gotten no other way and were much easier if I accepted them as part of life.  One of those gifts was/is to understand, first hand, what various mystics and spiritual leaders have said for years, that death and suffering are not to be feared and are a vital part of life.  I am reminded of the words of Richard Bach in his book One “An easy life doesn’t teach us anything.  In the end it’s the learning that matters: what we’ve learned and how we’ve grown.”  I have grown a great deal, due to the difficulties during my life.