Everything Imaginable
Welcome to Everything Imaginable, a podcast with curious minds kgR a radio Welcome everyone to another episode of Everything Imaginable. I'm your host, Gary kucha Lillo. And today our guest is Dr. Mary Helen Hensley. Thank you for being on the show.
Mary Helen Hensley
I'm very excited to be here. Thanks for having me.
Everything Imaginable
Yes, it is an interesting topic. I've really been wanting to do an episode on a near death experience, or n d is the call it now.
Mary Helen Hensley
I'm ready to talk.
Everything Imaginable
So um, so let's, let's hear the story. Like, I know you were in a car accident, like, tell me what happened?
Mary Helen Hensley
Yeah, it was December 14 1991. And I was living in Charleston, South Carolina. And I was on my way to my work Christmas party. And I had just left my apartment. And you know, it was Charleston's It was so hot in December, and I was wearing my bright red Bermuda shorts and my Santa Claus t shirt and a big jingle bell around my neck. And I got about a mile down the road from my apartment. And I was at a traffic light at a major intersection highway 17 in Charleston, and I sat at my red light waiting. And then when my light turned green, I had to go across the traffic, several lanes of traffic to be able to make a left going towards town. And all of a sudden, I looked left. And there was a car in the furthest lane that decided it was going to try and blow through that red light. And so they estimated that I got hit at 75 miles an hour. And I was t boned. And the next thing I knew was what was actually happening before it happened, and I knew that the car was coming at me, everything just kind of slowed down to a snail's pace. And I knew in that moment that I was getting ready to die. And what was interesting about it was that I wasn't too bothered that it was gone, everything was going so slow, that I suddenly just had this realization that Oh, okay, I'm going to die. And it was an overwhelming feeling that I had done this many times before. And that's what was the first I guess, the first very unusual thing, because, you know, I grew up in the south, I'm a preacher's daughter. And, you know, we, it was unusual, because that's not how I had been taught things would happen. And I was very aware in that moment, that I was very much in control of what was happening. And that I had the option where I could stay in my body and experience the impact. Or I could leave my body and watch it happen. So I took option B. And next thing I knew I was hovering above, and looking down at the accident taking place. So I had come out of the body before I'd actually gotten hit, which was really, really interesting. And I've watched my car, fold in half and spin through the intersection and come to a halt and all the traffic stopped. And I'm watching people, you know, getting out of their cars and starting to congregate. And it was really interesting, Gary, because it was like a detached interest. Yeah,
Everything Imaginable
My father had an experience where he died for about 10 minutes from a heart attack. And he said he was floating above his body as you know, trying to resuscitate them? Mm hmm.
Mary Helen Hensley
Yeah. And what's so amazing about that part is, I have found over the years the best way to describe what that feels like, because people are like, Oh my gosh, aren't you trying to get back in your body and we're very upset or scared. Nothing like that. And I liken it to, if you're outside and you're working in the garden on a hot day, and you're all sticky and sweaty and you've been you've put in a hard day's work, and you come inside and you peel off those gross clothes and you throw them down next to the washing machine and go have this fabulous shower. The last thing that you're thinking about when you're in the shower is the dirty clothes next to the washing machine. And it was much the same way with looking at the body. You know, I was there. I recognize that it was my body and that it just took me through 21 years. And I had no interest whatsoever of trying to clamor to get back into it. I was just very, very much so present in that moment and watching What was happening below me?
Everything Imaginable
That's really interesting and kind of cool in a way.
Mary Helen Hensley
Oh, soup, it was so cool.
Everything Imaginable
Like, I know, it's like a terrible thing. I think sometimes you get offended, like, by the, you know, describing death is something kind of cool but
Mary Helen Hensley
and listen, it's you know what's so interesting about it is that we've made it such a thing we've made it such a thing to be feared we, you know, we do everything possible to avoid it, and we prolong the agony around it for some people by keeping them you know, hooked up to machinery and not letting them go on easily. And we put such a stigma around death. And really, it's like walking from one room into another. That's how big it is, you know, it's there is this immediate recognition and remembrance of the fact that Oh, hang on a second. That's just a suit I was wearing. That's not me. And it was really a really cool experience in that moment to go, Oh, my gosh, that body isn't who I am. It's the vehicle that I have used on my time on earth to traverse the earthly experience. And that's a that's a real big aha, especially, you know, these days, we're so hard on ourselves. And we're such we, we've talked about other people placing judgment on us, but we're our own worst critics when it comes to our bodies. And you know, it's so interesting how you suddenly realize, oh, gosh, that was that was just a suit the meat wagon? And who I really am is, this essence, this being that is sitting here watching this accident take place? And it's a pretty profound experience when you shed that mortal coil and suddenly go, Oh, yeah, this is how it is, Oh, God, I forgot.
Everything Imaginable
So much changes, like, your perspective on everything. We have so much time, you know, accumulating wealth and trying to protect ourselves and trying to accomplish this and accomplish that. And it looks like, we live like this, like we're going to live forever in this life. And like, we want to leave something behind because we think there's nothing else afterwards. Or we're afraid of what happens afterwards. And it sounds like it's just so common. Like, like, like all that. All that stuff that we do here is almost like a few tiles.
Mary Helen Hensley
Yeah, exactly. And I tell you what, though, it's for someone who's been through that experience. It truly does. It sounds so cliche, but it just changes the way you live the rest of your life. You know, when they say don't sweat the small stuff, it's all small stuff. Well, it. It's not even that it's all small stuff. It's that each and every moment is so profound, and that we place importance on the things that really aren't the most important things. It's the small things that we do and it's our intentions, those kinds of things that we can do and say, our thoughts, because our thoughts really are things and it changes the way that you open a bill. You know, I opened my bills now and I go. I'm grateful to be paying this light bill because it means I have lights. And rather than going oh my god, how am I going to get the money for this or, or whatever you live very presently. And it's incredible. And so you know, I spend my life trying to teach people to grasp that feeling without having to actually go through that death experience. And I don't think I had it because I was so special. I think I had it because I obviously needed to recognize that that's how, how it works here on earth.
Everything Imaginable
And what was your life like prior to that? Were you like one of those people that were served erotic, trying to accomplish stuff? And
Mary Helen Hensley
well, because I was only 21 It's so interesting for you know, which seems so old back then. And you know, now I look back at 51 and go and Mark God, I was a baby. Um, what was interesting was that I've had quite an unusual life leading up to that. When I was born, or actually when my mother was pregnant with me, I wrote a book my first book was called promised, and the reason it was called promised was because when my mom was pregnant with me, she had, she'd gone to the doctor and found she'd gotten quite ill and found out that she had the German measles in the first trimester of the pregnancy. And so for any expectant mother, that is like the last thing you want to hear because it most definitely means that something's going to be wrong or, or there's going to be major health challenges for the baby. If the baby survives it or All. And so my parents had been prepared during my mom's pregnancy that I wasn't going to be okay, if I made it, they would be blindness, hearing loss, limb loss or something not right, because remember this is back in 1969. And before we're doing ultrasounds and this kind of thing, and so basically the doctor said to my parents, you know, you need to get your heads around the idea that this child is, is, is not going to be healthy, or well, or whole, in some way. And what was fascinating was my father, again, the Southern Baptist minister, he had this visit during the course of my mother's pregnancy. And what was fascinating was the fact that he called them celestial beings. And you would think by being a Christian man that he would have used the term angels, but he always said, These angels didn't have wings. So he referred to them as celestial beings. And he has this very, very profound moment where they come and they say to him, not only is the baby going to be okay, but she and remember, they didn't know what, what I was boy or girl, but that she was going to come in with some unusual abilities. And so from the time, I can remember my earliest memories of my father saying to me, you're promised, and what he was always referring to was during those very dark moments when they thought I wasn't going to be okay, that he had had this visit and was told that I was going to be okay. And for him, that meant I was promised. And so sure enough, you know, I'm born and the first couple years, I suppose, were normal enough. And then when I was about three, four, I'm talking all of the time. You know, my very best friend at that stage in the world was my grandfather, Dr. Garlin, Clark, this was my mother's father, and I absolutely adored him. And he was just so present in my life. And he was just, he taught me constantly, you know, showing me things, and he was just always around. And so, one day I get, my parents kind of call me into the kitchen and sit me down there, forget it. And my father had this very deep, booming voice, you know, not only was he a minister, but he was also a football coach, American football coach. And, you know, he was just this big presence of a man. And he had this booming voice, and he sat me down, and he said, sugar, do you know the difference between what it means to be alive and dead. And, you know, I'm like, four, and I'm just looking at him. And I'm like, I don't know. And this is when they explained to me that my grandfather judge had died when I was one. And I'm telling them things about these conversations that I'm having with him. And all these visits, he makes it like he was sitting right there in the room. And I'm saying things that at that stage in my life, I couldn't have possibly known about him. And this is what really had captured their attention. And so it was at that stage that they knew, okay, this celestial visit that my father had is now coming to fruition. And so, from that time forward, things started getting interesting, because, you know, now I'm able to talk and I'm having these dreams at night, and I'll come in and say to them,
Okay, Dad, you know, Mr. Jones is gonna die on Tuesday. And you know, my father's the minister, and he does all the eulogies at funerals, and all. And it was, you know, it was just such a bizarre thing for them. Because whatever box they were in, this certainly didn't fit inside of it. And yet, at the same time, it was happening in front of their eyes, and they couldn't deny it. And so, you know, I grew up having these dreams and knowing things before they would happen. And, you know, as I got a little bit older, my father was, I think he was more afraid of maybe people not understanding or exploitation or something. But it was strongly encouraged that I never shared this with anybody that I could talk to them about, but nobody else my siblings didn't even know. So you can imagine when my first book came out, they were in total shock. Yes, so, you know, I guess as I was growing up, and then you get into those awkward teenage years, and the last thing that you want as a teenager is to be completely different than everybody else. And so he kind of clams up but it all still continues. I'm still having dreams. I'm still seeing things. Judge as I called my grandfather, was always present. And then I go off to college. And so when I was in college, I always joked about the fact I was a cheerleader. During college I used to write down the scores of basketball games and stick them in an envelope and tuck them away in my drawer and we'd go cheer at the game. And then everybody came back to our dorm room and you know, cracked open a beer, and we'd pull out the envelope, and there was a score to the basketball game. And that was the extent of my service to humanity at that stage playing
Everything Imaginable
basketball games.
Mary Helen Hensley
Yeah. And so when I graduated from college, my college sweetheart was from Charleston. And, you know, we were dating very seriously. And so I moved to Charleston, where that was his hometown. And so you know, with my big fat college degrees, I was mopping floors and a sun company. And this was such a great experience in my life, because my first bosses, Frank and Theresa Coyne, they really taught me about life, they really, they put a mop in my hand. And they said, if you want to know what it's like, to really run a business with integrity, you know, every job. And that means from the bottom up, and they stuck them off in my hand. And that was me. And, you know, eventually worked my way up to cleaning up the sign the vinyl peelings off the floor from where they were making the signs. And then eventually into the artwork, which was what my degree was in, it was in graphic design. And then, you know, so December rolls around, and it's time for our Christmas party. And so I was dressed and ready to go and on my way, and then boom, I literally hit I'm at the crossroads of this intersection. And I'm at the crossroads of my young life at that stage. And so I guess the powers that be decided that it was, it was time for me to start using what I had. And you know, I graduated from college, my degrees were in communications and graphic design, I'd done some TV work and, you know, was now working in the same company, but I wasn't utilizing in any way that was helpful to humanity, these kind of extraordinary things I could do. And, you know, I later found out that it wasn't, in fact, the powers that be that decided that it was me that I had set up for myself that if I had made it to adulthood, and so I set the age of 21, that if I hadn't managed to find my way back to these gifts, and to be able to utilize them in the way that I had intended, that I would have to have a great intervention and thus the car accident.
Everything Imaginable
Wow. So once you're there, you had a car accident, and you're looking down on yourself. And everything was calm and peaceful. What happened next?
Mary Helen Hensley
Well, what was really cool at this stage, and this has been a major part in my life's work, was at the time that I'm immediately out of the body and looking down and everything speeds up below me. And I see the car smashed into mine. And so I'm watching myself die, which was so interesting. But there was this sound. And I always like the sound of the fact that I live here in Ireland at the moment. And you know, I've lived here for 20 over 20 years. And I love traditional Irish music. And I play the Bauer on which is the round drum that you might see in a typical Irish session. But my favorite instrument is the Chilean pipes. billion means elbow and Irish and the alien pipes are like a, rather than a big bagpipe where you blow in and fill a bag full of air. The bag is under the arm and it's pumped with the elbow. And it makes this incredible low drone. So for me that sound always means when I hear that drone, you're getting ready to have a great session. And it's just a great feeling. And so there was this sound. And it was this low kind of drone, which I have now many years later come to discover that that sound was kind of what was keeping me, my essence and my spirit tethered to the body. And so as the accident unfolds, and you know, I watch my head, go through the window, I broke my neck. And you know, I see a policeman come up and reach through the windows and are blown out of the car reaching through the passenger side and turning the car off. And there was a lady who came and put her phone number on the front seat of the car, which was really strange and then left, as if she was you know, a witness to the accident, but she couldn't stay for some reason. And I'm watching all of this happen. And as I'm watching that, that sound from that low drone begins to change the pitch, the frequency, the tone of it begins to speed up. And as it speeds up. I literally just disappear from that same and so this is kind of where people talk about The tunnel of light. And what's so funny is, you know, I think the tunnel itself is the illusion and the light is the reality. And so you know, in one second I'm there hovering over looking at this accident. And then this music changes this music of the spheres, this frequency begins to elevate, and it's the most beautiful sound you could ever imagine. And they're just these. It's like a symphony. And so now I'm in another space. And so it was a tunnel, like, is it? Is it just there? Was it? Or? I missed? Okay. Yeah, I was there one minute. And, you know, I've heard other people talking about going through the tunnel. But for me, it was so fast. I was watching you after the accident, one second. And then the next second. I'm in this other space. And it was incredible. Because it was a spate. I completely knew who I was, I knew who I just was, I knew what just happened. But all of a sudden, I'm looking around and I'm so fully present, that it's like I'm beginning to remember everything. And it's like that was when the veil lifted. And I'm going just, Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, my God, oh, yeah. And the atmosphere of the space that I was in, it was palpable. It's like I could touch it. But it was also like I was part of it. And I don't, I couldn't even tell you how long I sat in that space and just absorbed the magnificence of it. And it was at that stage that that atmosphere, that palpable atmosphere began to take shape in front of me, and two beings, just formed out of thin air. And were there in front of me. And I was looking at them, and they said nothing. And they were just patiently waiting. And I knew in that moment that I should know who they were. But I don't know if I was stunned, or you know, I'm so new to space. I couldn't put my finger on who they were, but I knew they were somehow extremely important to my story. And they just waited. And then all of a sudden, the penny dropped. And I was like, Oh my gosh, these are my guardians. Oh my god, these are my guardians. You know, we have actual guardians, beings who are there assisting us. And it was like the homecoming of all homecoming. And
as soon as I recognize them, they just envelope me. And that's the best way to describe it. And they invariably enveloped me and I became suddenly really smart. Everything that I had forgotten about how it all works, and, and why we even come here in the first place, why we take on a body it just been there in a split second. And I remembered it all. And at that stage, I then did a life review. And, again, it all sounds so cliche, because we've heard these terms so many times, but it was just absolutely extraordinary. Because I'm there this, this me this essence of who I really am, I'm there they are there with me just like wrapping me in this indescribable love. And next thing I'm looking and it's like, there's a 360 degree cinema around me. And this was so important because I'm watching my life unfold, but not in chronological order. I'm watching me as a three year old, I'm watching me as a 17 year old 12 year old, a 19 year old all at the same time. And this is when the concept of time and the constructs that we've created for ourselves to be able to be able to walk through the earth plane suddenly made so much sense and I'm like this is all happening simultaneously. I'm all of these things at the same time. And this really magnified and explained how you know, we often hear you know, the, the source or God or whatever you want to win a call that is in all places at all times. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, that's how it works. And so, I'm watching myself go through these 21 years simultaneously. And you know this for the preacher's kid, this is where I'm thinking, Okay, this is where the judgments happening somebody else is watching this with me and judging Am I good enough to carry on I get to walk through the pearly gates or I'm getting ready to go Burton for all eternity. And what's so interesting is you know, you know the life that you've just lived, you know all of your high points and your low points and you're kind of watching this looking around and cringing and go do I remember what happened there. But you're also watching these things. tiny things, these tiny moments where something that you might have thought was just so small, made such a huge impact in the life of another person. And you're watching yourself, and you're critiquing this performance and looking around going, hang on a second, you know, where's the guy with the big white beard, and then the robe who's who's judging me, and, you know, making the decision of what happens to me Next, and it's just not happening. So everything that I had experienced through those 21 years, all of the things that I've been taught to believe, simply weren't happening. You know, it wasn't Jesus didn't meet me, or, you know, there was no, no dead relatives hanging around waiting for me or anything, it was me, in this absolute perfection of this plan I had created for myself. And, you know, I've had many people challenge, you know, at this point going, whoo. So you don't believe there's a higher being? Are you saying, your God, and I'm like, no one's saying that we're all fractals of the same hole. And you realize in that moment that every single thing that happens to you while you are in a physical form, is of your own creation? And that's huge. Because for me, coming back into this body, it has changed everything. Hmm.
Everything Imaginable
That's pretty heavy.
Mary Helen Hensley
It's pretty awesome. Do you know,
Everything Imaginable
I don't know how I would feel like looking at my whole life. Like that, you know?
I think I would cringe.
Wow, no, you know, what, if you're watching yourself grow all at the same time, and you're, you know, you're seeing, you're seeing times in your life where you were uninformed, or ignorant about something and making judgments about life around you, at the same time that you've grown or outgrown these concepts or ideas and, and learned compassion, or you've learned an understanding about something that 10 years earlier, you didn't know. And it's all happening simultaneously. And so, you know, suddenly you lose the capacity to judge yourself as anything, but experiential. And it's really hard to get mad at yourself, even for the really stupid stuff that you did. When you accept and understand that you are this divine, omnipotent, perfect, eternal soul, who took on that human form in order to have those experiences in order to feel what it felt like not to be perfect, because perfection is what we come from. And it's just absolutely incredible. And so, people will often go Why on earth, especially when they're eight when things aren't going so well, do you know, why would I choose to do this to myself?
I ask myself that question all the time.
Mary Helen Hensley
Yeah. But ask any adrenaline junkie, you know, why do they strap a cord to their ankle and jump off a cliff with a bungee cord? Or why, you know, why do they skydive? Or why do they do anything that they create? And so I've kind of whittled it down to this explanation, which, you know, people seem to be able to get their heads around. And I think it's a pretty good one. So imagine, you know, a whole bunch of us have just spent a lot of time in lockdown. And, you know, this idea of not being able to go out or do anything. And so a lot of people were improving their home entertainment systems. And, you know, so imagine you've got this, this TV and this surround sound, and your favorite movie is coming on and you've got the big remote control, and you're in the comfort of your own home, you're wearing your jammies and the fridge is stocked, and you can pause that movie whenever you want to. Or if you've got to go to the bathroom, you can go and come back and pick up where you left off. And it's just perfect. And now imagine lockdown is over. And your best friend calls you and goes, guess what? cinema just open and guess who's out? And you're like, Oh, yeah, and how about meet me there? And you're like, yeah, yeah, you get to get dressed, and you're out of your pajamas for the first time in four months. And you know, you're looking forward to seeing your friend and to go in and actually sit inside of a theater and you opened the doors and that smell of buttery popcorn hits you in the face and and you go in and you're sitting with an audience of people and you're laughing at what's you know, the comedy or you're crying at the things that are tugging on your heart and your your feeling. And then afterwards, you get to go out and you know, sit down and chat about the movie or whatever. And, you know, that's when I go, which of the two experiences is the better one, the one where you're in the comfort of your own home and control of the movie and you Getting the food out of your fridge and sitting in your comfy jammies, or the one where you've gone out and you've met your friend after being locked in for months on end, which one of those is better?
Everything Imaginable
Go now,
Mary Helen Hensley
neither, because they're just two different experiences for the introvert lockdown has been bliss, wow. For the extrovert, they go out and they're having a ball at that movie, they're just two different ways to experience the world around you. And so when someone asked why would I leave a feeling of bliss or perfection or omnipotence or, or being eternal, to come into a world that is so painful, because the way this this earth plane is set up, which is so unique to this space, is that we have this incredible dichotomy available to us, where we can simultaneously experience utter bliss and joy, and absolute horror, and hardship and pain, all at the same time. And so to a soul, who knows that nothing can harm who it really is, throwing on a body for, you know, 20 3040 8090 years is, is a privilege. And so when you know this, and when you come back with this, it changes the way you do everything. Like I said, I open my bills differently, I pull the clothes out of the dryer, with such purpose. Noticing every little thing, the way the texture of the clothes feels the warmth of the clothes, the privilege of having the clothes, going up, and then folding the clothes, putting them away. Everything I do is with such purpose now. And I really cherish every single moment. Because every single moment counts because it's all about the intention, it becomes a chore or it becomes an act of gratitude.
Everything Imaginable
About the painful things in life, like see you wake up in the morning and in your back hurts in your coffee pots broken in
your TV.
Mary Helen Hensley
Totally, I get it. But you know, you can imagine after you know, I'm 21 years old, and I was perfectly healthy up to that point. And then you know, now have, I've broken my neck, I smashed my pelvis, I've been told I'll never have children, you know, you're going through an awful lot when you come back into that body. And so you know, there's not been a day in the last 30 years where I didn't have some form of physical pain. And what's interesting, though, is that I wake up every day, and I asked myself is the pain that I'm in right now bigger than what I want to do today. And 99.9% of the time, it's not. I recognize that I'm not this body, I'm not these pains. And while some days some things might be easier for me than other days, there's never really a day where I'm not going to get up and do what I want to do what I want to accomplish. Because I know that it's you know, I have a short period of time to be here. And I want to get as much done and have as many experiences packed in so that you know, when I do die again that I'm flying out by the seat of my pants with a glass of champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries and you know going Whoo.
Everything Imaginable
So what is that you think you are eating all of us? Oh, it is washing? Here's a question. Are we all here to accomplish the same thing we all have individual things to accomplish? And how do we figure that out?
Mary Helen Hensley
Well, what's so interesting is, like I said before, we're fractals of the same hole. And part of the trick of being here and one of the great, you know, when we're always working towards this enlightened state, or the self actualization. And you know, what's so funny about that is that, you know, we actually think we're humans who were trying to have a more spiritual experience, as opposed to spiritual beings who were here for that human experience. That when you have something like an MD and you get that great, big aha, you come back and you realize that every single person who crosses your path, every single experience that you have, you're having through the unique vision of your two eyes, you're having through the unique experience of your way of perceiving the world around you. And that if you can look at the person across from you as the fractal of that same hole, you realize that We really are one. And, you know, it sounds like Well, that's great, I'd like to be the one who's living in the mansion and has the, you know, the endless bank account at night, you know, proposal, you know, instead of having to struggle, but all all it is, is that you know, all of these 8 billion plus people who are on this planet are literally projections of that same hole, having different experiences. And every time we cross another individuals path, we have a choice, we can turn a blind eye, we can choose to see the world through their eyes, we can judge their experiences and thinking that we can do them so much better, we can be envious of them, we can be joyful for them. Each and every moment presents that choice. And it really changes the way because it takes it you can't be a victim, when you see the world this way. You just can't. everything that has happened to me. Like I said, when I was doing that life review, I'm looking at myself, you know, winning Living History Day in seventh grade dressed as PT Barnum, at the same time that I'm seeing myself. On a night, when I went to visit a college at 17, I was 18. And, or maybe I just turned 18. And I had too much to drink, I'd never had drinks before, and I had too much to drink, and I was raped. And I look at that. And I'm looking at those experiences going through simply experiences. Because when you know that no one or no thing can harm who you really are, you realize that things can be done to the body, the body can be hurt, the emotional body can be hurt, it can hold trauma, and you see the opportunity to see those things as experiences through your eyes and experiences through other's eyes. And it's really hard to be a victim of those things, you look back and you go, I wouldn't change that. For anything. It's part of the very foundation of who I am. And, you know, if I started going back and picking and choosing all the really good things that happened to me, I would have missed out on all of the growth that has taken place in my life, because the growth came through hardship.
Everything Imaginable
Yeah, I can see that, but I'm still not a fan of hardship.
Mary Helen Hensley
Will who is I mean, you know, like, going out looking for bad things to happen. But when you have this approach and this attitude, you know, you see everything as an opportunity, it's an opportunity, I have the chance to show up for myself, I had the chance to set up camp and and, you know, pitch a tent and set, you know, like the campfire of my despair, I can I can feel the experience, see what it has to offer and then move on. I can use that experience to assist another through their own hardship. You know, for me, like if none of these things had happened, I wouldn't have 10 books written. It's been a wonderful, wonderful thing to be able to disconnect from the pain of an experience and see the opportunity and the growth and the expansion that took place to the experience. In order to assist my fellow man, that's what that's what it means to be a steward of humanity.
Everything Imaginable
Are we all stewards of humanity, or just certain people that have like profound experiences and sort of wake up to it,
Mary Helen Hensley
we all have that opportunity. And we literally have it every day, when we wake up, we can start all over again. Some of us recognize that more readily than others. Some people, you know, are so deeply ensconced in their pain that they can't see that, because all they can see or feel is pain and hardship. And you know, that they think they've been dealt a bad hand or they think you know, and these types of people tend to think outside of themselves. It's not, as above so below, as within so without, it's always coming from the external something, somebody is doing something to me, something is doing something to me, I am the victim of somebody's choices or actions.
Everything Imaginable
So there's a lot of blame.
Mary Helen Hensley
There's a lot of blame. Exactly. Exactly. And you know, and that's a really, really tough way to go through life. For some people, it's absolutely necessary. It's what they came here for. For others, they came here to go through those experiences and then to grow out of them. So for me, it was you know, by this happening at such an early stage in my life, I've been very blessed and fortunate that I've gotten to live more of my life in this understanding than I didn't You know, that's something I'm very, very grateful for, it changes the way you know, I'm a mother of two teenage girls, it changes the way I've parented, it changes the way that I've taught my children to deal with the challenges that they inevitably are going to have in their lives, it changes the fact that I don't go and try and sugarcoat or pad everything, and prevent them from having difficult things happening, you know, I'm always going to try to be there to create a safe space for them. But I know, through having lived that life isn't always safe. And it's not always pleasant. And the best gift that I can give to the children is there are tools to deal with that as opposed to trying to take it away from them or not, not ever let them have, you know, have the experiences.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
