I don’t remember the exact moment that I turned to God and prayer, but I do remember what my first prayer was: “Please let me live to be twenty.”

I said it when I was eleven years old and going into the hospital for weekly chemotherapy treatments. I knew that I was living between life and death. I also knew that I wanted to live.

How are you living your life? Are you minding your mind? Are you living fully present in this moment or living in a state of near slumber? Strive to live openly and be aware of life’s beauty and time’s passage. This is what it means to be fully alive.

One day in March 2000, I was sitting in a conference room at my husband’s start-up internet company listening to my colleagues discuss how to design web pages. Suddenly, I looked up and saw dozens of pair of eyes floating around the room.

My beloved dog Lulu died suddenly in August. It felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest. I held her in my arms after hearing there was nothing more that the vet could do. She was being kept alive in their ICU. I held Lulu closely and just moments before the vet was to give her a sedative to help her pass, she awakened, turned her head and stared straight into my eyes.

At age 10, life changed overnight for me. A childhood cancer turned my life into a series of weekly chemotherapy and radiation treatments. I spent hours in the hospital’s sterile, cold waiting room with kids screaming and crying, many of whom had lost limbs to cancer.

Days before my mother-in-law Karen died, she said to me sitting on the edge of her bed, “I am going to teach you about death and dying, I am ready and I am not afraid.” An accepting peace permeated the room with no fear or unrest. In her final hours, her breath became shallow and she gently let go of her life.

Who feels grateful for nearly dying? In a way, I really do. If I hadn’t been swept up in the rapids while whitewater rafting at age 35, I might never have found the life I’m meant to live.

A few weeks after being pulled from the river,

Living from the heart reveals your most true self.  Learn simple tips and use the Journey to Your Heart Meditation to unlock your heart and live more fully.

Prayer has a very personal meaning arising from an individual’s religious background or spiritual practice. For some, prayer will mean specific sacred words; for others, it may be a more informal talking or listening to God or a higher power…