What does studying thousands of near-death experiences actually do to a person? For Don Winner — former US Air Force intelligence officer and NSA analyst — it changed everything about how he moves through the world.
In this clip, Don shares a simple but powerful story: a woman at a doctor’s office, visibly upset, hands shaking, eyes tearing up. Instead of walking past, he stopped. Asked if she was okay. Then went next door to a pharmacy, bought a five-dollar stuffed animal, walked back in, and waited. When he handed it to her, she squeezed his hand and said, “Thank you so much. You have no idea.”
That’s not who he was before this research. Now it’s who he is every single day.
This clip is taken from the full interview on The Soul Inspired podcast — watch the complete episode here: 🎙️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6bl_nAe_HY
📖 Get the book — You’re Going to Die Someday, Right? Near-Death Experiences Reveal What Happens Next :: https://mybook.to/A8X8
🌐 winnernde.com
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Transcript:
The other thing that has been a significant change is that every single time I leave the house to do anything — even if I’m going to get a haircut or go to the grocery store — I go out of my way, every time, every day, with every human interaction I have, to leave that person smiling, happy, laughing, cheerful. To treat everybody with caring and compassion and love and respect and consideration.
Because who knows — maybe that person is having a bad day, and all they need is somebody to take that moment that they normally wouldn’t. So just as an example: the other day I had a medical appointment, saw the doctor I needed to see, finished up, and was checking out. The woman checking me out was upset in some way — I could tell. Her hands were shaking, her eyes were tearing up, something was going on. I don’t know what. So I just asked her, “Are you okay?” She kind of looked at me, reached over for a Kleenex, and was crying.
So I made my next appointment, left the building, and right next door in the same strip mall there was a pharmacy. We were coming up on Valentine’s Day, so I went in and bought this little plush stuffed doll — it had some message on it like “Hang in there, kid” or whatever. Cost five or six bucks.
I walked back in, and she was talking to another patient, so I stood aside and waited for that interaction to finish. Then I walked up to her and said, “Hey, listen — I don’t know what’s going on, but I think you need this.” And I gave her the thing, and she just basically lost it.
I still don’t know what was happening, but she didn’t just hold my hand — she squeezed it. She said, “Thank you so much. You have no idea.” I said, “Well, I just hope you have a better day, darling,” and I moved on.
That’s not something I would have done before. If I’d noticed she was upset and having a bad day, there’s no way I would have stopped what I was doing and gone out of my way to try to make her feel a little bit better. So now I look for those opportunities. If I can find somebody having a bad day and just make them smile — that’s what I do.