STRANGER THAN FICTION

I Had a Heart Attack, and I Did Nothing

Well, what most people would consider nothing.

I was awakened by a strange sensation in my body.

I was sleeping in my Mobile Domicile — a Kia Sedona van converted into livable quarters. I tossed and turned and tried to realign my body on the foam mattress. Usually, this does the trick, but not this time.

I laid on back and moved my muscles around in the back to see if it will ease the discomfort. That’s when I felt a little heaviness in my chest and a tingling feeling along both sides of my spine. It was weird. I had never experienced anything like it before.

I laid there, acknowledging the feeling and listening to my body to see what I needed to do to ease the pain. That’s when I heard it, loud and clear,

“Dude, you’re having a heart attack.”

What would you have done if you were lying there in my place?

But, I didn’t do what most people would have. I am weird, and when I say weird, I mean W.E.A.R.D.!

“God doesn’t burden a soul more than it can bear.”

When I realized that I was having a heart attack, my first reaction was, “Cool, so this is what a heart attack feels like.”

“Dude, you need to get your ass to the hospital.”

Have you ever had a back and forth argument with the voice in your head?

Well, I do it all the time, and this may not have been the most convenient time to do it, but why not?

I’ll spare you the play by play and give you the five o’clock news version of it. I wasn’t willing to spend several hours, maybe a day or two, in a hospital or hospitals while they poked and prodded me, ran all kinds of tests, and prescribed sh*t load of medicine that I couldn’t afford or wanted to take, anyway.

If it was time for me to go, it was time. If it wasn’t, then regardless of what happens, I will be able to handle it. “God does not burden a soul more than it can bear.” I figured I was covered.

I took a deep breath, said a prayer of gratitude, and closed my eyes. I woke up the next morning by the sound of my alarm clock, as usual, feeling alive. I have a network of friends who practice what is known as the alternative healing modalities these days, the traditional medicine of the indigenous people all over the world. These traditions have thousands of years of successful practice behind them. I have nothing against modern medicine, which is only a couple of centuries old. I choose to put my trust where there is a longer track record.

I sent out a group email asking my friends to hold me in their “healing energies.”

I know most people reading this may not agree with the course of action I took, or may even feel that I never really had a heart attack. They’d say, it was a figment of my imagination because If it was a heart attack, then…. blah, blah, blah.

I respect your right to your opinion.

In the days that followed, I shared my experience with some knowledgeable people and friends to get support and information. They confirmed based on the symptoms I’ve had that they were the same as someone having a heart attack would’ve had. One friend cracked me up with her reaction of me, saying, “Cool, so this is what a heart attack feels like.” She said, “You would too.”

Another friend, whom I accidentally (as if there were any accidents) ran into a restaurant, widened my perspective on my experience and life in general and gave me humility.

Final Thoughts

My life is a summation of all my thoughts, ideas, actions, reactions, experiences, lessons learned and missed, and everything in between. So is yours the sum of all you’ve been through.

We come into this world with a purpose and a life plan. A part of that plan is to make choices. Every choice we make affects and impacts the world we live in, which in turn has the same effect on the Universe at large.

Each one of us, you and I, are one of the infinite and completely individual manifestations of the Divine Will. God, or Universal Intelligence — through each one of us individually — chooses to experience the Universe in innumerable ways while coordinating and orchestrating the whole thing.

My friend, whom I ran into a restaurant, reminded me that while my experience and reaction to a heart attack were unique, they were no nobler than anyone else’s as they are all unique expressions and desires of the Divine Mind. Judgment is foolish, yet a part of Divine Experience just the same.

Thank you for reading.

More weirdness from the archives.

I am a self-proclaimed weirdo, Jack of Many Trades and Master of Some. I live the Freedom Lifestyle — life on my terms, and help those who are interested in doing the same. (Join the Tribe)

“You can let others tell you what it means to be successful, or you can decide it for yourself.”