..

If you survive a near death experience and afterwards, when you wake up, you feel this surge of courage, like you can do anything, like you've been so close to death that you no longer care what comes next, you'd imagine that's how the rest of your life is going to be.

But there's a thing about feelings; they pass.

There's even a medical explanation for that sudden rush. When your body believes you're in danger, it activates the sympathetic nervous system, flooding you with stress hormones like adrenaline and noradrenaline. Your heart races, your senses sharpen, your body prepares to fight or flee, and your brain becomes intensely focused on survival. After an extreme experience, that heightened state can sometimes leave you feeling euphoric, fearless or strangely invincible. But the nervous system eventually settles, the chemicals wear off, the intensity fades, and you return to your usual emotional baseline.

Essentially, that's the thing about feelings. They are fleeting and temporary, once the adrenaline wears off, you'll be you again. Shy, reserved, you.

So no, we do not need a near death experience to wake us up from whatever slumber we're in. Because if we aren't ready enough, or tired enough, or willing enough to change, even a near death experience might only give us momentary euphoria. And when the feeling passes, we could find ourselves right back where we started.

Dearest reader, we get to decide what experience we allow to change us. We get to choose what we take from the things that happen to us, because best believe, two people can experience the exact same thing, pick up two completely different lessons, and go on to live their lives differently.

I said all of that to say, feelings change. I can be feeling pretty awesome one moment and the next, I feel like crap. So if I build my life around how I feel in a particular moment, what happens when the feeling changes?

Here's what I think; 

• Nothing you experience can truly change you without your intention to let it.

• The experience can open the door, but you still have to decide to walk through it.

@favvy_Okwans🖤.