It is a warm summer night — I am wearing my MS cooling vest. I am alone in a room of 25 other people, on a Paranormal Tour of Ft. Mifflin in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. What am I doing here? I am a skeptic when it comes to ghosts. There are a hundred plus people here, split into various groups exploring the large fort. There is barely any light in the damp and large cavernous room. The nearest person is a few feet to my right, sitting on another bench. She is dressed in a TAPs t-shirt, and jeans. She is fiddling with a flashlight. I came alone, only my wife knows I am here. I glance around the room, hard to see anything. It’s quiet. I’m bored. Then I see her putting her unlit flashlight onto another bench. She is talking to no one, “Turn this light on.” I stare at the unlit flashlight, barely able to make out the silhouette. About 10 seconds pass and suddenly the room is a blaze in light. Someone gasps. I realize it was me. A few seconds later, the weight and presence of what feels like 200 men report for duty. I feel someone slide into the seat next to me — but no one is there. I don’t move. I am enveloped in cold. Every single hair of my bare arm springs up. “Turn off the light,” says the woman. The light snaps off. We are bathed in darkness again. I’m not the same person I was moments ago.

If I missed out on this experience I would still be a very sickly man. Through this profound experience I switched from reading health books (that kept me stuck in diseases) to reading spiritual books. When I read about inner peace that comes from meditation, I knew I needed that. A bipolar brain is not peaceful. It is a constant war with the storyteller although you don’t realize you have a storyteller. You believe all your thoughts are the absolute truth and it is hell. My storyteller was a mean inner critic often telling me that I wasn’t worthy resulting in suicidal thoughts that required hospitalization.

I recently asked my readers if they would go on a paranormal tour. Around 70% said they would, while the other 30% had various excuses why they would not.

Each one of us has a storyteller in the mind. Constantly talking to us about everything we can perceive. The story is being created from our various life experiences. We rarely see things as they are — the mind filters based on the past experiences. For the 30% that would not go, the mind told them “no.” They missed out on this experience.

We never know how our experiences will shape our future and by denying ourselves an experience we stunt our growth.

Life is constantly offering experiences to help us grow, often times we push away from the experiences. The more we push away the more “stuck” we become. Life becomes routine and boring.

I am reading a wonderful book now from Dr. Wayne Dyer “I Can See Clearly Now.” He talks about his various experiences throughout life and how they shaped him. When he did not pay attention he was often left frustrated or overwhelmed with his life situation. If he listened to his heart (the divine wisdom within) then life seemed to flow more easily.

I too can see clearly now. I can see how I was constantly closing the door to life by denying the various the various experiences that life was offering — I wasn’t open to receive. The inner critic was in control — the storyteller. When I was given a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder, I didn’t pay attention. When I was given a diagnosis of Migraines, I didn’t pay attention. Life kept giving me more and more health ailments, and I continued to not pay attention. I continues to look at side of myself for answers (medicine, doctors — the knowledgeable people). After I acquired MS, I was in rough shape. It was a life filled with pain and suffering. Yet, the divine (universe, God) did not give up on me. It continued to offer experiences. After the Fort Mifflin experience I went searching for answers. Then the divine placed a book in front of me that talked about meditation. Through meditation I learned to look inside for answers. All answers and solutions to our life situations are within us, never outside of us. We are our own Guru although at times we need someone to help point the way (for me it was a book).

Now the universe is offering me this experience of a peaceful mind with the ability to help others.

There is always a way out of suffering if we are willing to go within and find our own truth. We simply need to pay attention to the lesson that the divine is offering.

Are you open to all experiences of life? Or do you continue to push this experience away?