near death – Surprised By Joy

“Sometimes it takes an overwhelming breakdown to have an undeniable breakthrough.” – unknown

I think there are a few existential experiences that are so rare that we almost have an obligation to share them. Like if we’ve:

Held hands with an octopus
Skiied from the top of the world
Had a near-death experience and met Jesus

There are movies made about the first two (My Octopus Teacher (2020) and Everest North (not yet released) by Jimmy Chin). And for the third, I was exceptionally lucky to have recently had a conversation with Liza Anderson about her near-death experience on the Life of Try podcast.

Liza Anderson shares the extraordinary true story behind her book The Crossing: My Near Death Experience with Jesus. After a sudden medical emergency left her in an induced coma for weeks, she experienced what she describes as a choice between life and death—and an encounter with Jesus that transformed her understanding of suffering, healing, and purpose.

Liza tells us what happens when life strips everything away—your plans, your certainty, even your sense of who you are—and asks you to choose. We talk about near-death experiences, faith, trauma recovery, critical illness, prayer, and how to stay grounded when everything around you is swirling.

Takeaways:

You don’t have to control the outcome to choose the next step.
Some of life’s deepest lessons come through suffering, but they can reshape how we live every ordinary day.
Trying can mean returning to life one small moment at a time.
Being fully present matters more than predicting or controlling what comes next.
Sometimes courage looks less like certainty and more like choosing life again and again.
The adventure of life may be less about outcomes and more about how we show up to the moment we’re in.

Here are some other ways you can listen and watch Liza’s amazing journey:

The podcast player embedded below
Click this link to watch in a browser: Near Death, Deep Faith, New Life | Liza Anderson’s Extraordinary Story
Subscribe to The Life of Try on Spotify, Amazon Music, or Apple Podcasts
Subscribe to the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thelifeoftry

Barbara Nickless on A Voice In The Dark, Online Gaming and The Power of Story – The Life of Try: Personal growth, one try at a time.

In this episode of The Life of Try, host Wynne Leon talks with Wall Street Journal bestselling author Barbara Nickless about her new psychological suspense novel, A Voice in the Dark. Their conversation moves from the dark corners of online gaming and internet manipulation to the real-world vulnerabilities of teenagers, families, and people searching for belonging. Barbara shares how deep research, FBI consultants, and her own curiosity shape her fiction, especially as she writes about FBI profiler Helen Belle, criminal humanist Benedict Hoffman, addiction, trauma, and the question of what draws people toward danger.This thoughtful author interview explores how storytelling can help us understand complicated human experiences, including moral injury, PTSD, addiction, grief, law enforcement, cybercrime, and the healing power of writing. Barbara also reflects on teaching writing to military veterans and civilians, researching dangerous places and difficult subjects, and using narrative to “de-other” people we might otherwise misunderstand. Key Takeaways:→A Voice in the Dark explores the dangers young people can face in online communities, especially when vulnerable teens and young adults are targeted by manipulative influencers.→Storytelling can help us “de-other” people by taking us inside their motivations, histories, and struggles in ways that facts and news stories alone often cannot.→Curiosity is at the heart of Barbara Nickless’s writing process. Her research into online gaming, FBI investigations, addiction, trauma, and moral injury helps make her fiction vivid, compassionate, and grounded in real human experience.→Researching modern crime fiction requires balancing accuracy with readability, particularly when writing about cybercrime, AI, online manipulation, and evolving law enforcement tools.→The conversation highlights a core Life of Try theme: trying begins with curiosity, openness, and a willingness to enter unfamiliar worlds in order to understand ourselves and one another more deeply.If you love conversations about books, personal growth, curiosity, crime fiction, psychological thrillers, resilience, and what it means to keep trying, this episode offers a rich and compassionate look at the stories that help us make sense of ourselves and one another.📘 Order A Voice In the Dark: https://www.amazon.com/Voice-Benedict-Hoffman-Helen-Belle-ebook/dp/B0FTGGHSWL/🌐 Show notes and more inspiration: https://wynneleon.com🔔 Subscribe for more: Subscribe to The Life of Try for more conversations on: personal growth, creativity, reinvention, resilience, writing, and mindset.ABOUT MEHi, I’m Wynne Leon — host of The Life of Try, a personal growth and self-improvement podcast exploring resilience, reinvention, uncertainty, and the courage to keep trying.Through thoughtful interviews, reflective conversations, and real-life stories, I share insights to help you navigate change, get unstuck, and move forward with more intention.🌍 Website: https://wynneleon.com🎥 Watch Next➡️ Letting Go Of Outcomes: The Mindset That Keeps You Moving➡️ 48: How to Get Unstuck: Michael Yang on Saying Yes, Resilience and Coming Alive➡️ How to Finally Write That Book You've Been Dreaming About | Writing Motivation