To all - it is refreshing for me to learn more about what happened to me, and to know that I am not alone, nor crazy, nor weird. I struggled for about 2 years to identify specifically what had happened to me, until I stumbled upon the concept of walk-ins, and the undeniable match in most of my symptomology with those of being a walk-in. I would like to share my story with everyone in the hope that I can help others who may also be in a similar boat. Memory of my past self (the walk-out) is becoming sketchier as I become more in-tune with who I am now, almost like a distant dream where details fade over time. That said, I do recall that for as long as I can remember, I had been a person who was insecure and self-conscious, self-centered, with an addictive personality and all too often, verbally mean to those I was closest to. The internal discord and dislike of myself only grew over time, through 25 years of marriage and raising of a family, until early 2015 when I went through what can only be described as 2 months of pure hell…an emotional, psychological and spiritual meltdown and collapse. During these few months, I felt like two people in the same body – one a passenger, vaguely aware of what the driver was doing…and seeing that the driver was taking the bus off the cliff, along with those in my life that I held so dear, but not being able to take the wheel and change course. Odd things happened – for example, the electrical system in my new car went haywire several times, coinciding with intense emotional periods…only to self-resolve when emotions decreased (the dealer’s computer was unable to identify any issues with the car). Then, on a sunny day at about 2pm on April 3, 2015, as I was standing in a driveway of someone I knew at the time, in another state, I felt as if I was physically hit by a wrecking ball or struck by lightning. The force pushed me back several steps, and it was as if a light went on in a dark room. I looked up at the sky, then around me, then to the person in front of me, and literally thought to myself, “Where am I, what am I doing here, and what have I done to my wife and family?” The blue sky was so brilliant, the bare tree branches looked so foreign, and I had an overwhelming urge to flee from that locale and go “home” or to a safe haven. I drove home, though I do not recall much about the 5-hour drive. When I arrived, I went inside and saw my wife…though, more beautiful than ever (at a non-visual level), as if through different eyes. Over the next few months, I increasingly knew that something inside of me was “different” or had shifted. I was inexplicably at peace inside, despite the turmoil around me due to pain I had wrought on loved ones from my breakdown. Many aspects, preferences, habits, tendencies, personality traits that had been “me” for 48 years, had changed. According to a well validated “personality type” test that I had taken 3 times at work previously, my personality had shifted 180 degrees…from an extroverted, idea generating, non-finisher type to an analytical, introverted caretaker type. I no longer have an addictive tendency toward anything. Siblings no longer feel like relatives. At my last high school reunion in 2015, within 5 minutes of arriving at the mixer, I told my wife, “these are not my people, I am not comfortable” despite having a lot of fun at the reunion 10 years previously. I consider myself deeply spiritual (I was not previously), and I now see auras, though mostly around trees and animals. I can “feel” energy emanating from people; bad energy bothers me greatly. My memory and mathematical skills were poor, and now are quite precise (I do math in my head). Many food preferences changed. Bitter feelings I had harbored for those who had “wronged” me over the years disappeared. There have been physical changes as well; seasonal allergies I had endured for my entire adult life stopped plaguing me. The prostate cancer I was diagnosed with, and preparing to have treated (through organ removal), “disappeared” within 9 months of the soul exchange, much to the dismay of the MD, who had never seen this in his 20+ years of practice. I used to be a hardcore distance runner and now I really am not keen on running. I now very much enjoy art and have started designing some wood-based "crafty" things, such as clocks. In the past, I never would have driven what I would have called a "junky" car...but now I drive a beat-up, 20 year old Honda and could care less as long as it gets me to and from work (I actually kind of enjoy driving it). I feel oddly neutral about most memories from the walk-out’s history; I feel emotion, but more-so from a bystander or observer perspective, and emotions seem to emanate from the thought of how my actions had affected others, not feelings within me at the time. The one big exception to all of this is, and counter to what I’ve learned most walk-in’s experience, is with regard to my wife. For 25 years, while I felt love for my wife, it was shallow and selfish in nature. Since the exchange, my love for her has been indescribable, deep and visceral in nature, as though one of my “missions” is to help heal, nurture and protect her. She is having a difficult time with me, however…a combination of her reflecting on how (mean) I used to be, and how I am now, which she confirms is completely different (and kinder/gentler, in her words). In the early stages following the exchange, the universe was being rather blatant and honest in terms of presenting examples of synchronicity to me. I have now learned this is one of the methods of giving the walk-in a clue of what has happened...maybe kind of like that secret code that spouses have to let each other know that they “want to leave the in-law’s house NOW.” External validation as well helped convince me that a soul exchange had occurred. A very intuitive/psychic colleague of mine, who I had not seen since 2013, was at a conference recently when we ran into each other. We quickly exchanged greetings, committed to having a beer together later, then parted. That evening at a social event, this colleague cornered my wife (before seeing me there) and asked her, “What the heck happened to him? He is not the same person.”

My story is long-winded, but hopefully it will find its way to others who are in the early stages of this phenomenon, and hopefully it will help you find your way a bit easier, or make your day a bit brighter to know that you’re not alone…and you’re not crazy. I am still an infant in this process, and relish growing and learning more every day, and being able to help others grow and learn in the process. Thanks for reading!