The Day I Almost Died

Or maybe I didn’t almost die. Maybe I just came close to death in my mind. To me, that’s close enough.

So, what happened to make me come so close to death? What could have made me think that my life was going to end?

I thought I had met Death

Image by JD Hancock

This near death experience happened while I was ice climbing in Munising.

The day started out like any other ice climbing trip I’d ever been on. We arrived at the frozen waterfall. John, our ice climbing guide, setup the climbing routes. And we began to climb.

Then someone saw a perfect place to explore. There was beautiful ice and a way up behind the frozen waterfall.

My near death experience

Only this quick way up wasn’t so quick for me. Instead, it became a trial of fear and dread and the feeling of death crept upon me.

As I made my way up the frozen, snowy wall of snow, my mind began to flood with fear. Voices filled my mind. I heard:

“You’re going to fail!”

“You can’t make it safely.”

“You don’t have the strength to do this.”

And I began to believe the voices in my head. I KNEW I was going to fail. I KNEW I wasn’t going to be safe. I KNEW my arms and legs would give out.

I was going to fall and be a bloody wreck at the bottom of the waterfall…

Fear became a force to be reckoned with.

Thankfully, we can overcome our fears. We can beat back the pounding in our hearts. We can beat back the negative thoughts in our minds. We can beat back fear.

For me, overcoming the fear wasn’t done by myself. I had my ice climbing friends there to help me push through and conquer the fear I felt.

Erik offered his GoPro mono-pod to help steady my shaking arms. This helped me relax a bit and make my way over to the ice cave.

On the way down, little Andy helped guide my feet to the proper places. He stayed with me through the whole process.

With the help of my friends, I was able to overcome death that day. And I was able to experience something very few people can ever say they saw.

So, what’s the point of this post?

Fear is a thief. Fear will lie to you. Fear will hold you back.

You don’t have to listen to the fear. When you push back against the fear, you will find yourself in places you never thought you would wind up.

When you’ve got good friends, they’re there for you. Good friends will help you through your most fearful moments. Good friends will tell you where to go and that you will make it.

At the time, I thought I was going to die. Yet I made it through this ordeal.

You’ll face moments just like this in your life. Don’t let fear win out.

Question: Have you had a near-death experience like this? How did it turn out? Share your experience in the comment section below.

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