Let's Open Our Hearts and Souls

We all go through periods of loss and sadness. Either because we lose a loved one, our job, our home, or our health. Loss is an inevitable part of our life that nobody can escape from. Although those experiences can be very traumatic, we should think about a way out of this loss and sadness. By changing our mindset, we can open a new horizon for us that can bring another chance in our life.
 
In the past few weeks, I spend as much time as possible with my senior seventeen-year-old dog. It was clear that she would pass away soon. Having suffered from heart and kidney problems in the last three years, it was a wonder that she had survived for so long. It was certainly to her benefit that I as veterinarian had adjusted her medication daily. Although I knew that our time together would be limited and she would soon join my other beloved dogs in heaven, I didn’t think about her end. Instead, I enjoyed such wonderful times of bonding with her because I changed my mindset from expecting her soon to be loss to a living in the moment as intensively as possible with her.
 
We enjoyed such exquisite and intensive moments, her snuggling on my legs and me caressing her for hours and hours. She was so much delighted that she would sleep under my hands feeling the gentle touch that gave her safety and love. I adjusted my daily schedule around her. Each moment that I spent with her was cherishing our strong and loving bond and our souls that had connected for so many years. I could feel her warmth, not just from her body but from her heart and soul, too.
 
During this time, we grew even closer together as we already were. When we looked into each other’s eyes, we understood each other without words. Each moment was so precious, like a rare treasure that’s so hard to find. It lit up my heart and brought me unforgettable memories for a lifetime. I have never lived more in the moment as during those times. When she was ready to join my other dogs in heaven, I let her go to fulfill her destiny.
 
But is this really the end? Does nothing come after death at all? We all ask ourselves the question what will come after we leave this world. Is the end really the end or is it a new beginning of something that we don’t know yet and don’t understand? We don’t know. But there might be more to it than we are aware of.
 
Years back I traveled in Asia. During a hiking trip, I went to a Buddhist monastery to stay there for the night as there was no other accommodation in this area. It was my first time to come to this beautiful mountainous region adjacent to the sea. When I walked down the mountain and approached the monastery at the shore of the deep blue sea, a Buddhist nun came out of the monastery and stood at the top of the stairs leading to it. She had a shaved head and was dressed in the typical grey clothes. When I looked up to her to ascend the stairs, she opened her arms and said: “Finally you come back to me. I missed you.” I looked at her – and I knew her although I have never seen her, never been to this place and never stayed in any Buddhist monastery before. My heart pounded and I felt so much at peace. The moment she hugged me, I knew not only that I had met her before but that I had come home.
 
What sounds like such a strange feeling felt so normal, so real and so right. I knew we had met each other before and knew each other well. I knew the place although I came there for the first time. How can that be?
 
Why do we limit ourselves by thinking that only those things exist that we can see, hear, feel, measure, count or calculate? Why do we not give ourselves the chance to open our hearts and souls for whatever there might be in the wide universe? How can we connect with other living beings, and we know them although we have never seen them? How do we know places and regard them as home that we have never been to? Could it be an accumulation of past experiences that we are not aware of because they might not have been in this life?
 
We might never know in this life what comes after death. Maybe it is only a transition to another form, another life, a rebirth or even something we might not imagine in our limited minds.
 
Although I am a scientist, I strongly believe that there is much more between heaven and earth than we commonly know and believe. I think that we should be open for everything and not limit ourselves to think that death is the final end for us. It is the end for our body, but our souls might go on another journey that could be amazing, beautiful, and fulfilling our destiny in another life.
 
I know that one day I will see my wonderful beloved dogs again in heaven and that they will wait for me. The same applies to my loved ones. This gives me hope and happiness. We should enjoy and cherish each moment we are here on earth but still not feel sad when the end comes. It could be the beginning of something new. There might be something unimaginable out there between heaven and earth that could be so much greater and more beautiful. Let’s open our hearts and souls to cherish each moment in our lives. Let’s refrain from limiting ourselves to this life and embrace whatever might come after.

Published in Let's Open Our Hearts and Souls (mysticlivingtoday.com)