One of the most powerful and life-changing aspects of the Near-Death Experience is the Life Review where we get to review all of our life’s choices, words, and deeds. Not only do we see the immediate impact of our actions, we get to see the extended and long-term Ripple Effect of our actions as they ripple out across different people over time and space.
Like dropping a rock in a pond, our actions ripple out far beyond the first people we impact but continue on through the people they impact as well, ultimately impacting dozens, hundreds, and sometimes thousands of people with a single action.
“I went through a little bit of a Life Review — not so much looking at events in isolation but looking at the unseen Ripple Effects of those events, how an event had an impact not just one or two degrees removed but 16, 20, 25 degrees removed. This was another profound aspect of the experience. It made me truly understand that every action, every decision, every choice, every human interaction really does matter. You may not know it, and almost always you don’t recognize the impact. But everything really, really does matter.” Dr. Mary Neal
“I remembered many past events. There were two screens. The first was a replay of every moment of my life to this point and included what I was thinking and speaking. The second screen showed the Ripple Effect of both good and bad actions on my part and how it impacted other people’s lives. This was very intense. During the Life Review, I was humbled and very excited at the good I had done and its Ripple Effect. Then I felt a period of shame and sadness for the selfish hurt I had inflicted on others and its Ripple Effects.” Lee C.
“I experienced, in a sort of holographic or instantaneous way, how every action I had taken was like a stone cast into water causing ripples outward. If an action is loving, that action touches the first person for whom it was intended, then it touches another person, and then another, because it affects how that person interacts with people and so on. Every action has a reverberating effect on every single one of us on the face of this planet.” Reinee Pasarow
Through the Life Review, we learn that our singular actions don’t just directly impact the immediate people around us, but they ripple through others creating an expansive, exponential, and everlasting Ripple Effect on a much wider circle of people we often don’t even realize.
We come to understand that our lives often have a massive, unseen, and unrealized yet undeniable Ripple Effect. We realize our words and actions don’t just impact us but ripple out to others. Our positivity, compassion, and love spread to others and inspires and encourages them to do the same. Unfortunately, our negativity, indifference, and hatred also infect others and they take out this negativity and anger on other people.
“Everything we do, including the words we speak, our actions, our thoughts, has an effect on both ourselves and the world around us. We can liken these effects to energy radiating outward from our centers. Our words and actions do not affect just us, they travel outward and touch others, too. And the sphere of that impact can be quite large.” Nancy Rynes
Whether positive or negative, we have a bigger and farther-reaching impact than most of us realize until we see the full extent of it in our Life Review. It encourages us to ask the question, “What kind of ripples do we send out in the world?”
Want to learn more about the powerful Ripple Effect your life has on others? Check out Jeff’s enlightening new book called Your Life’s Ripple Effect which takes a deep dive into the life-changing lessons of the Life Review.