Most people who have near-death experiences report some common feelings. Why do you think that is?

Now, I am not talking about what their experience of death is like. I am referring to their attitude toward life. Almost every one reports feeling more connected to humanity and less concerned about self.

In 1973, when Stevie Wonder came out of a four-day coma after an automobile accident, he deepened his commitment to helping his fellow man. "I will not be operating so much 'on' time as 'in' time," he said, meaning that he would strive to help others before it was too late.

This is exactly what people in similar circumstances report they feel - an overwhelming desire to be of service.  For many of us, it seems to take a severe shakeup or a close call with death to wake us up to our own sense of purpose and our own sense of nature. Just like Ebeneezer Scrooge, in the story "A Christmas Carol." He had to be shown his own death before the spirits could convince him to change his ways.

How would you live differently if you had just come back from the brink of death? Would you pay more attention to your business or to your family? What would you treasure? What would you stop doing? What would you start?

Maybe it doesn't have to take a near-death experience to live every day with gratitude, and to create the most complete life you can have. What are your first steps?