What Almost Dying Taught Me About Living

And that was the night my life changed.

Photo courtesy of HeatherAnneNaples.com

Not because the next 2 years would be consumed by health struggles and hurdles, because although those changed my body, it was my mind that was changed that night.

The way I thought about life, and the way I had been living it, would never be the same.

It’s hard to explain motherhood to someone who hasn’t experienced it, but the best way I have heard it described is that a piece of your heart walks outside of your body once your child is born. And as the paramedics arrived that night and began their work, I realized that if those were to be my final moments, the tiny piece of my soul that was crying out my name from the next room would never have a chance to know me. In fact, she wouldn’t even remember me. All she would have is what I left behind; pictures, written notes, and most importantly, the stories people told her of me.

And I asked myself on that ride to the hospital, what would those stories be?

And I didn’t like the answer.
So I made the decision to change it.

As a mother, as a parent, as someone who walks this earth and interacts with others, I ask you to ask yourself, what will be said about you when you are gone?

Are you kind? Are you gentle? Are you giving? Are you loving? I am.

Heather Anne Naples
Heather Anne Naples
Heather Anne Naples is a wife and mom to a daughter. She loves sharing what is inside her heart and her home on her blog Heart & Home with Heather Anne. Sharing all things DIY and crafty, as well as heartfelt uplifting messages, as she navigates life as a mother and wife while renovating her family's "fixer upper."

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