Dying to Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing

I’m participating in the #AtoZ April Blogging Challenge 2025 and this will be my third year of joining the vibrant community that loves this one-of-a-kind creative challenge.

This year, my theme is—BOOKS THAT CHANGED MY LIFE—which means I’m not only going to write about my favourite books, but also about the deep and lasting impact they’ve had on my personal growth and my work and creative life. If you are stopping by this blog for the first time, please do leave your blog link, I’ll be happy to visit yours too. 🙂

Dying To Be Me: My Journey From Cancer To Near Death To True Healing by Anita Moorjani

I first heard about Anita’s book when one of my friends had a profound experience after reading it. She wouldn’t stop talking about it. I was quite intrigued by near death experiences (NDE) and after hearing about this book, I bought myself a copy to understand more about it.

To be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect from it, initially, since I was quite sceptical about it. Interestingly, in the book, Anita does not try to convince anyone of anything. It is an account of her experiences and is a powerful testament to spiritual awakening and self-discovery.

Anita’s battle with cancer, her near-death experience (NDE), and later, her miraculous recovery turn out to be more than just a personal story. She narrates her account by inviting her readers into her profound journey, aligning closely with the belief that every soul has a purpose and she had found hers through this experience. The onus was on her to go out and share it with the world.

What struck me personally about the book was the fact that Anita’s recovery was deeply connected to the profound realization that fear and self-neglect had contributed to her illness. The crucial lesson here was that self-love and authenticity are essential for true healing. Embracing our true selves and letting go of fear can lead to profound transformations.

I think the lesson about loving oneself was very useful to me. It was a great reminder that very time you beat yourself up, you create so much pain for yourself and others. Love yourself no matter what for no reason other than because you are here. Spend time connecting with your inner self.

She also speaks of leaving oneself open to all possibilities and be willing to suspend belief and disbelief and sit with uncertainty. This one spoke directly to me—needing certainty is a hindrance to experiencing greater levels of awareness. It’s a tough lesson no doubt, but I had to hear this. Being instead of doing works with universal energy instead of against it. Just be and allow and everything will fall into place. A profound and a crucial lesson for everyone who cannot sit with uncertainty, like myself!

The other beautiful lesson from the book is how we should not deny our feelings. Anita reminds us to embrace them all and allow them to flow through us. Embrace your ego too, she says. What one resists, persists.

And then, there is this that was just meant for me—there is no need to fear food. I suffer from acute migraine and am very sensitive to food. Anita reminds us to eat what we love and enjoy it. At this day and age, when so many of us have come to be so sensitive to food preferences and focus on only eating healthy, this came as an eye-opener!

I loved when she says, that humour and laughter are very important and we need them more for healing than anything else—chiding us not to take ourselves and our problems too seriously.

None of these were new facts but they were great reminders for me.

Anita is very clear about one thing in this book— that she is simply stating what worked for her—it’s her story of recovery from cancer and finding her purpose for a wonderful, fulfilling life. Knowing that we live in a society that is so afraid to talk about death, her near death experience comes to teach us that death exists very close to us and she urges the reader to see death, just as she does, in a whole new, beautiful light.

I feel grateful for having the opportunity to have read this book and for the powerful message that the book conveys to us. This is definitely not a book about dying. It’s a book that invites us to re-evaluate our lives and live it fearlessly.

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If you’d like to read the rest of my A to Z posts written for the #AtoZAprilChallenge2025, then please click here to read on.