Kentucky Man Dies Smoking Around Oxygen Tank – Big Q Wonders About Ego and Near Death Experiences

Saw a story on the internet today that made me think about ego and choices.

The story that got the brain thinking on a Saturday was out of Kentucky. A man blew himself up on his porch. Turns out he was smoking around his oxygen tank. This was not the first time, he has smoked around oxygen, his relatives said he has blown something up 3 times before. Three! And that is what got me thinking about ego.

If you survive a situation that should have killed you, what does that do to your ego? Does it snap you into reality and make you straighten out your life? Or, does it make you feel indestructible?

"Don't smoke around oxygen? Fu## off! That can't kill me."

Then what does it do to your ego when you survive 2 more explosions on top of that?

"See, I can't be killed! I'm immortal!"

Hitler survived 27 attempts on his life, and we all know about his mental state. Two years ago I was hospitalized with blot clots in my lungs, the same thing that just killed Dennis Farina. I weighed around 520 pounds at the time, and I could have easily kept doing what I was doing, because I survived! But I didn't. My ego got snapped into reality and I started to change my habits to see if I could live a little longer without flipping off God.

I'm guessing that surviving a "near death experience" works different for each person. Some will jump out of planes to catch that "rush" of surviving, while others will retreat to safety, not willing to look the reaper in the eye again.

Where do you stand? On the edge ready to jump over? Or, on the couch, watching the other guy jump off the cliff?