A Helping Hand

A short account of my unexpected out of body experience in 2011

A Helping Hand

During 2011, I was working in both Haarlem and Amsterdam, repairing window frames which had become rotten in parts.  I was hired in by an bureau to work for a painting company in Hoogezand, Kuurman Schilders.  My colleague was a large Polish man called Slavech or something like this.  We’d travel to work early on a Monday morning and work long days, so we could drive back up North on the Thursday afternoon.  During these weeks we’d stay overnight at an ‘arbieders’ (workers) hotel in Halfweg, between Haarlem and Amsterdam.  We’d arrive after the days work, take a shower then get a warm meal before going back to our shared room, the walls of which were hollow, offering no insulation, so we’d always hear the other ‘guests’ coming and going through the hall.  Which meant that a good nights sleep became a luxury, especially when a group of drunken Polish workers decide to retire to the next room at 2am.
One day, our boss, who was a large, not very pleasant looking Dutchman called Benno, worked with us, ate with us, and afterwards slept in the same room.  I didn’t like this man.  He was usually critical and often angry with my colleague and I for no good reason.  I never felt comfortable around him, and on this day, he was staying with us day and night.  In fact, he slept in the bed adjacent to me in the same room.  I wasn’t happy about this.  Nevertheless I tried to go to sleep regardless of my uncomfortably.  After some time I must have slept because at some point I became aware that I was above my sleeping self, watching myself toss and turn, restless in the bed. The room was almost dark, with some dim light from the street seeping through the thin curtains.  Seeing myself below I remember feeling deep compassion, and then I reached out with my right hand, to touch my left shoulder, with the intention of settling my sleeping self.  When I held my shoulder, I could both feel my fingers touching it, and I could feel fingers on my shoulder.  I was in both positions at once. The reassurance must have worked because I went quickly back in to my sleeping body, and �" as far as I know �" I slept deeply though the night.
Upon wakening, I still had a clear memory of what had taken place.  I felt privileged that it happened, and that I could remember it.  But most of all I felt privileged that I had a compassionate helper looking out for me, even if that helper was actually me.
Of course I didn’t tell anyone at work about what had happened.  But I did carry a buoyant energy with me for the rest of the day.  I seemed to accept the fact that it was a different me, an other me who had reached out to the sleeping me.  Somewhere inside I could register what this implied.  But sadly, over the years  since then my awareness had contracted itself to the point where I’d forgotten this other me, and, instead of elation, I would experience a very powerful sense of loneliness.

Reviews

[Lara]

Some tough work days and not exactly comfortable rest, hey Paul? ...
This story shows how there is an undeniable "something" within your consciousness that knows the necessity and inevitability of compassion.
Our perceptions on such things may wax and wane but, like the moon, it doesn't really go away. It's still there

[Paul Michael Kelly]

thanks for reading and understanding.
It's often not easy to live and operate in this 'world' when we long for the simplicity and strength of the divine.