A Near Death Experience

Time. It is an aspect of everyday life, but is it always reliable? “Time is somewhat indeterminate in this story…”(Stoicheff 2). In this short story, the main character is Peyton Farquhar, he is an average civilian who is caught in the act of something illegal.. He was caught trying to sabotage a bridge being used by the Union soldiers.. Farquhar is to be executed by way of the gallos. As Farquhar sits on the plank over the river before his death, his mind begins to slow things down.

Although many may not believe it until it happens to them, time can pass by so swiftly that one won’t even register it at first. Yes, time passing is a part of life, but the realization of it is another story within itself. “Forgetfulness,” a poem by Billy Collins, and an excerpt from “Once More to the Lake” by E.B. White both provide a clear example of how fast time can go by. In Collin’s piece, he puts together many various ideas one can forget as their life moves incredibly fast. Likewise, in White’s “Once More to the Lake,” the narrator struggles to understand how quickly time really passed and how his son is so similaralike to him. Both of these pieces of writing use X syntax and X diction to develop the common theme of annihilated time.

Approximately three percent of the United States population says that they have had near death experiences, according to the Gallup polls. Near death experiences are often thought of as mystical phenomena, but research is now revealing scientific explanations for virtually all of their common features. Most people who have near death experiences have these three things in common: adrenaline rushes, a change in priorities, and time slowing down.

A person's life can be changed forever in an instant. So many reason are changing people lives everyday for better or worse. There are many reasons including, an eye-opening event, an act someone did, and a new character entering someone's life.

When an individual’s perception of someone significant to them changes, their impression and outlook on life does as well, thus resulting in their character and interaction with their environment to be altered.

The only thing Near Death Experiences, or NDEs, are proof of is how much we don’t know. We don’t know how they happen, we don’t know why they happen, and we don’t know how to find out. But just because we don’t know something, or can’t explain it, doesn’t mean it’s unexplainable or that we should give up.

* Shock – this is often experienced when a person learns of an unexpected death. Although it can also affect those who have experienced terminal illness with a loved one. Even though we may know someone is going to die, it does not remove the shock of it actually happening.

“I looked up and I saw this light; it wasn’t a normal light, it was different. It was luminescent. And it grew. I kept looking at it like, ‘What is that?’ Then it grew large and I went into it” (Sunfellow, David). Near death experiences and the knowledge of near death experiences have become more common in today’s society. Countless books have recently been written on them such as Heaven is for Real, Near Death Experiences of Suicide Survivors, Proof of Heaven, and 90 minutes in Heaven, but not everyone believes in these experiences. Some atheists, scientists and doctors have all tried to debunk the theory, but are they nonbelievers or disbelievers? A non-believer is one who does not have faith or believe, a dis-believer refuses to believe. Many people have stated that they have had near death experiences and of course with that comes the naysayers. The point is to look beyond scientific belief and to look at the proof we have from doctors records or for some, their own experiences. There are still many skeptics about NDEs but with countless records and so much proof, there draws a thin line between real and make believe. In order to prove that these experiences are true to the non-believers we need to not only gather records but also scientific proof of these phenomenons.

Patrick Daniels, Tom Benecke, and Brian Ingalls all made choices before there near death experiences that may have caused them to occur. Patrick Daniels was in charge of packing his own parachute, instead of taking his time and doing it correctly he rushed through it and packed his parachute incorrectly causing his first parachute to not open when he jumped from the plane. Tom Bencke did not realize he made a choice by stepping out onto the ledge behind his window, he choose to risk his life over a piece of paper that would further him in his work causing him to have his near death experience. Brian Ingalls also did not realize that when he started to defend himself in a moving vehicle from a wasp that he choose to kill the wasp and risk his and his car’s life. Making the wrong choice in a situation can put you in a near death

For say the event of Mr. Randy Pausch being diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, he knew he was dying and accepted the fact of it but he knew there were greater factors than downing on it. Throughout this novel I realized that I should appreciate things in my life a little more than I do. For instance, my family: instead of getting into arguments with the people I love I have decided to cherish every moment I have with them because I never know when something might happen. I want to be able to remember laughing and enjoying life with my family rather than fighting and having that as the last memory of them if something ever did happen. Family is one of the most important things in life, because family is

I’d never thought enough had happened in the sixteen and half years I had been alive for much of anything to pass in front of my eyes during a near death experience. I was wrong. You know those nights when you lie awake in bed and replay interactions long forgotten by everyone but you? You wonder what people thought, what you could have done differently. This experience felt much the same. In your head is all of your missteps and slip-ups, the advice you should have taken but were too stubborn to listen to, the people you’ve let down. It all sprawls out in front of you like a sunset stretching across the horizon as you drive over a big hill.

In the Foreword, Moody presents a clear overview of the near-death experience phenomenon. He expresses his thoughts in terms that strongly suggest that the experience is exactly what it appears to be. A preview of the actual dying process. However – and this is a large however – what Moody gives is on the one hand, he takes away with the other.

Have you ever hit the highest peaks in your life and suddenly dropped deeper than the ocean? Almost like the adrenaline you get on a roller coaster. It goes to its highest point and then falls down at an accelerated rate. In other words, this describes the term “Life”. It may seem like the situation is all well and good, that is until the changes start to arise. It is something everyone will end up experiencing and adapting to throughout their lifetime. These changes in our lives permit us to be even more positive and more hard working, "What if I told you that 10 years from now, your life would be exactly the same. I doubt you’d be happy so why are you so afraid of change”- Karen Salmansohn . This quote is significant because it allows individuals to open up and not be afraid of the change that is occurring in their life.

Many of them change your (and maybe others') future. Life decisions such as deciding to move, pursuing a certain career/education or maybe even something simple like deciding to start playing golf for fun, can influnce your life in a bigger scale than you might imagine. You might end up meeting a certain person or getting a certain job which then influences the rest of your life. Like I stated in the beginning, these decisions are the ones that decide our fate, they are what makes us special. It might sound frightening put like this, but the positive side about these decisions is that you always (most of the time) have the option to change your own fate and decide to go down a different route. Bigger events like the ones stated in the paragraph above are harder, if not impossible, to change. What has happened has happened, but since your personal choices do not affect such a big scale of people they are much easier to change along the

It was a warm fall day in early October, a day that I recall quite vividly. The smells of the transition from summer to fall were in the air, accompanied by the sounds of birds singing and the wind blowing through the trees. It was on this beautiful day that my existence was almost terminated. A quick hunting trip could have ended my life.