Two days ago, I was almost killed.

The reason that happened can best be explained by talking about lessons we can learn for our own lives from the “Star Wars” trilogy films.

Starring Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman, the trilogy chronicles the devolution of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader.

And sorry, spoiler alert. If you haven't seen "Star Wars" and don't know that Anakin Skywalker turns into Darth Vader, spoiler alert, that’s what happens.

So today's episode is going to be about Love, Self-Evolution, Faith, and the dark side.

Shining a Light on Darkness

So first, a disclaimer. As you guys know, I am a journalist. Trained, degreed, all that great stuff. And as a journalist, we are trained and educated to be objective.

Although there are many so-called journalists nowadays who don't practice objectivity, I typically do. And that's how this podcast has been up until now. I don't really give a lot of my personal opinions about things. A lot of the time, it's research-based, interview-based, etc.

But this story is very personal to me, and it applies to your own life. Granted, there's still objectivity here. There's still a lot of journalistic research, but it's research into things that are intangible. We're actually going to talk about things that are intangible, a.k.a., much more into the spiritual realm of things.

Now, I'm not trying to convince you of anything. I'm not even trying to convert you. But hopefully, by the end of this conversation, you will have a deeper understanding of why things are the way they are, and how things operate—both in the physical and in the spiritual—that can positively or negatively affect your life.

We have the expression, "The Truth will set you free." 

Having a better understanding of what's really going on in the world around you can help you to live a better life.

The Force: Good vs. Evil

So in this episode, I want to explore how and why it's so important to be laser-focused on how you live your life, every single day of your life. Because it can literally affect which side of the "Force" you're on.

If you have seen "Star Wars," or if you know about it, then you know that in "Star Wars," there's something called the Force. It is this unseen, somewhat untouchable energy that some people can wield for Good, and some people can wield for evil.

The people who wield it for Good use it to defeat evil. 

The people who use it for Good and are born with gifts and abilities, they're called Jedi. The people who use it for ill or evil, they have different names; from the Sith to Darth Vader.

Now I'm not a huge "Star Wars" buff, but I do like the trilogy with Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman. When I rewatched it a couple of months ago, I realized: 

Wow, this is an excellent way to view the hidden mechanics of life in this world. And that you have to be very particular about how you live your life.

In "Star Wars,” the person who has a great level of power in controlling the dark forces is Darth Vader. So what can we learn about how to live our lives from the story of Anakin Skywalker, who devolved into Darth Vader?

And what does that have to do with the fact that I was almost killed two days ago?

Their Eyes Are Watching Me

So first, let me tell you what happened two days ago. And keep in mind, I'm a journalist.

So, there are some journalists around the world, especially ones who are actually authentic and honest and True and objective, who do their jobs well. Just so you guys know, certain journalists, including myself, are watched. We are followed. We are monitored.

It's not easy being a journalist in any time, but certainly not in a heavy, digital surveillance-type of landscape. And not just digital, but also physical surveillance as well.

And so that's something that I have been dealing with for months on end, including all the way back to when I was in Finland. And if you listen to the second season of this podcast, there was a weird, crazy incident that happened to me in Finland that is best explained by the fact that I am a journalist, under surveillance, and certain people and organizations want to prevent or intimidate or imperil me from doing my job.

And my job is to understand a variety of different things so I can help you learn how to live your best, happiest, most fulfilling, and most impactful life.

People in positions of so-called power or authority — they don’t really have power; the True Power lies elsewhere, which I will get into later — but people in government organizations and businesses, etc., that want to exploit you or keep you from living your best life, they don't want you to know these things. They don't want you to have these tools.

And so, a couple of days ago, I left my accommodation to go to a destination. And I'm in Thailand at the moment. In Thailand, it's much easier and cheaper to use Grab, which is like Uber or Lyft in Asia. You can hire a motorbike driver to drive you where you want to go. Motorbikes are just quicker to get through traffic and they're cheaper, so I tend to ride them where I need to go.

Now, I had been sensing that I have been under increased surveillance for the past couple of weeks. I even have video proof of how badly they are at doing it, but I didn't expect them to go so far as to try to kill me. 

But once you discover what happened, and how it all culminated, and what it has to do with the dark side and Jedi and Darth Vader, it will be quite illuminating for you.

Who Tried to Murder Me & How?

So two days ago, I left my accommodation and I ordered a Grab. The Grab was supposedly two minutes away. Instead, it took like five minutes to get to me. It was stalled in a location for quite a while. Keep that in mind? 

It's not normal behavior for it to just be sitting somewhere and not moving. Like, it moved and then stopped and then moved later. 

So I was waiting for a longer time than I should have been.

The driver arrives and I request a helmet. 

The driver shakes his head like, "I don't have a helmet." 

I immediately shake my head and reach for my phone to cancel the ride in Grab. Because I'm not getting on a motorbike without a helmet on. That is extremely dangerous anywhere, but especially in this part of the world.

Someone told me about an incident not too long ago where a friend of his died in a motorbike accident. You cannot be cavalier about riding on a motorbike or motorcycle or scooter without a helmet on. It's very dangerous. And life or death for you. 

So I was like, "Absolutely not."

So then, get this. The driver gets off of his motorbike, turns off the bike, opens up the seat in his bike, and pulls out a helmet. Because he did not want me to cancel the ride.

So let me get this straight, I think. 

You’re lazy, unloving and uncaring about my physical safety, my health, my body. You don't care about me at all. As a fellow human being, you lack humanity. You're lazy and you lack humanity.

Plus, you lied about not having a helmet. So not only are you lazy and lack humanity, but you're dishonest as well. You're a liar. 

Those are massive red flags.

I had been in Thailand for over a month. That was the first time that happened. Every time I ordered a ride, I would request a helmet and the driver always gave me a helmet.

Now get this… The driver was wearing a helmet, but he really didn't want me to have one until I was about to cancel the ride.

Now let's fast forward two to three hours when I am leaving my location to return to my accommodation. I order another Grab. A different driver is delayed in arriving. Then, when that driver arrives, I'm on one side of the street. He parks on the complete other side of the street. Despite the fact that, in the description in the Grab app, it says exact name of the place that I am standing in front of.

Even more bizarre, his bike is facing away from the street. It was very odd behavior, but I just chalked it up to him being an idiot. I shouldn't have done that.

So I wave at him across the street. He comes over. The first thing I do is ask for a helmet. And guess what he does? 

The second time in the same day, this new guy shakes his head like he doesn't have a helmet. 

Without skipping a beat, I moved away and I'm about to cancel the ride. 

Then he's like: Wait, wait, wait, wait.

And wouldn't you know, there is a helmet sitting in the basket right in front of him on his motorbike.

So now, we have a second driver in the same day who was dishonest, lazy, and lacked humanity. But laziness wasn't a factor here because he didn't even have to get off his bike. It was right in front of him. 

Why was he so deliberate in lying about not having a helmet? 

And why is this the second time this has happened in the same day? 

The whole month I have been here, I have not had this issue. 

But suddenly on the same day, two different drivers back-to-back want me to ride without a helmet.

So then I'm on this bike and to get to my accommodation, it's only a mile and a half. It's not even far. It was just too hot and humid to walk in the heat. 

About halfway there, the driver stops his bike and wants me to get off. 

"Why? What's the problem?" 

So get this… 0.7 miles into the ride, suddenly, conveniently, the bike got a flat tire. And the driver left me stranded as he drove away on his flat-tired bike.

Now I am giving you the full sequence of events so you can see how one might be a coincidence. Two? Suspicious. Two plus a flat tire? 

Really? 

All in the same day?

We haven't even hit noon yet. It's still morning time.

So I have to order another Grab driver. And so this Grab driver comes. He's a nice, happy-go-lucky fellow. When I ask for my helmet, he has no problem giving it to me. In fact, he's prepared for it because I tend to text ahead of time: "Need helmet,” so there is no confusion when they arrive. 

So we go on our merry little way. It's only 0.7 miles away. 

The driver stops at an intersection to turn right, close to where I am staying.

We are on a 2-lane street in a medium-sized city. It's mid-morning, so traffic is relatively light. So, as we are sitting at the intersection, we are very visible.

Meanwhile, on the side street perpendicular to us, there sits a huge black truck, waiting to turn onto the main road. 

The truck is perfectly clean, perfectly washed, incredibly new.

Suddenly, the black truck turns and comes racing onto the main road like a bat out of hell. It literally went from zero to sixty, “real quick.” 

Aiming directly at us. 

Barreling towards the motorbike I was on.

Now I'm sitting in the rear of the motorbike. So if this black truck hits us, most of the impact is going into my body, my back, my head.

There was no reason for that truck race onto the main road so quickly, from zero to sixty. 

Where are you going? There's no hurry. 

Especially when you can visibly see that we're sitting there.

Now, let me tell you what happened next and why this whole entire sequence of events — all in a single morning. Keep in mind, this is one day. 

So in one singular morning, I had two different Grab drivers try to get me to ride without a helmet. The second one conveniently gets a flat tire halfway through a short drive. And now, at an intersection that is close to my accommodation, a big black truck comes barreling zero to sixty, real quick, aimed directly at my back.

Now what happened next?

How am I able to talk, walk and type to share this story with you today? Four words:

The truck stopped suddenly. 

I didn’t hear any braking. I didn't hear any screeching of a tire. 

Now it did run into us, but the impact was very light. So light that the part of the motorbike that got the most impact was the license plate, which ended up bent on one side.

Both the driver and I, we felt it, but we did not feel it in the way that you would in a normal car accident wherein, you know there's something wrong post-impact. But I didn't feel the impact in my spine. I didn't feel it in my neck. I didn't feel it in my bones. 

Even now, two days later, I don't feel anything. I feel fine. It's like I walked away from what could have been a life-ending “accident.”

Perfectly fine.

But the most incredible thing is — and remember I'm a journalist; I've seen a lot of things; I've interviewed a lot of people; I've read a lot of things and done a lot of research — it is impossible for a truck going zero to sixty that quickly, aiming directly at my back, to suddenly stop like that.

Divine Intervention

This is where I get into the spiritual part of things. 

There is a spiritual Force in this world that I call the Divine. I used to call this energy God, but the word “god” is used by a lot of people who have co-opted it for their own evil doings and their evil plans.

So I call the spiritual Force that is the Creator of us all the Divine. The Divine is the Creator of nature and brings beauty and Love and joy and Truth into this world. The Divine is the source of Love, and Knowledge, and Truth in this world. 

The Divine can also provide incredible protection for you in your time of need.

The way that truck stopped, there was no screeching of tires. It just stopped immediately, almost as if there was a barrier saying, "You cannot go any further." 

And the fact that I have no injuries and walked away just fine is a Divine Blessing.

A big, black truck slamming directly into my back, my head, my spine — on a motorbike with no protection beyond a helmet — that could have been life-ending. Or it could have been crippling. Because the main impact would have gone directly into my body.

Now you can see why I had to tell you about everything that happened before the big black truck. The entire sequence of suspicious and sinister events leading up to that moment. Not just that morning, but the way that a network of spies and agents were surveilling me and tracking my movements to figure out the most opportune moment and medium to strike. 

And how they utilized Grab, a popular rideshare app, multiple times to deploy their agents and mercenaries to register and pose as Grab drivers.

That morning, I wasn’t just being tracked and followed by the enemy, I was riding on motorbikes with the enemy as well. 

As a journalist, there are people and political organizations who do not like the work that I do. 

Two days ago, they decided: Now is a good time to try and take her out.

So, it's not just the big, black truck, it's the sequence of events. So we started with one Grab driver who was delayed, who then arrived and didn't want to give me a helmet that he possessed. 

Then you have a second Grab driver who was also delayed and then parked in a weird location, almost as if he wanted me to cross the street to him so that maybe a vehicle could hit me on the street. Or so they could run the clock a bit to move the big black truck into position.

So then the second Grab driver’s motorbike conveniently gets a flat tire — because the big, black truck still wasn’t in position yet.

Yet, despite all of their machinations, despite all of their attempts to try and get me to ride without a helmet, despite their evil attempt to try to kill die in a seemingly random “traffic accident” in the light of day…

The Divine stepped in and said: "Not today." 

The Divine was like, "Don't worry, I've got your back."

A Divine Calling

As a journalist, for years, I have been conducting research and interviews on Love, relationships, friendships and the like.

The more I have delved into Love and Self Love, the more I have discovered certain Truths about our physical world from a spiritual perspective. 

So I have actually become an objective spiritual journalist.

Believe you me, I never saw this coming. When I was in journalism school, I did not see this coming at all!

Yet it is quite fitting because, as I have shared in the past, I know that I am Called to be a journalist. I am Divinely Called to be a journalist. That is part of my Divine Mission and Purpose in life. 

And part of my Divine Mission and Purpose in life is to understand things in the spiritual and in the physical, so I can explain it to you and others. So that, ultimately, you can live your best and happiest life.

www.sashatobago.com

I want to tell you how I know that I am called to be an independent journalist. I know, no one really talks about journalism being a calling, but here’s my story…

The Force: Major vs. Minor

So what does my attempted murder have to do with the Jedi? With Darth Vader? And with the Force in "Star Wars”?

Let me explain.

George Lucas, the creator of “Star Wars,” I believe he was Divinely inspired when he wrote the second trilogy, because there are a lot of elements in it that are very, very smart.

So the Force in “Star Wars” is this unseen, unfelt energy, unless it is channeled through people. That is very similar to the forces that exist around us in the spiritual realm on this Earth. 

In the Real World, there are two forces at play. There is the Major Force, and there is a minor force.

The Major Force in our world is the Divine. 

The Divine is the Force and the Source of: Truth, Love, Goodness, Love, Joy, Peace, Knowledge, morality, humanity, and Blessings, Peace and Joy. 

Then you have the minor force, because the minor force does not trump the Divine. The Divine always has more power.

The minor force is the dualistic opposite of the Divine — the minor force is evil.

Sometimes, we refer to evil as the devil. If you look at the word "devil," it is the letter D plus the word, "evil." 

The devil is a personification of the evil forces in this world. 

Now, because the evil force is minor, it is always working overtime. And it always thinks it has a leg up on the Divine. But it never does.

It's similar to my story. All those evil attempts by the minor forces of evil who tried to kill me two days ago…

The Divine, the Major Force in this world, stepped in and said, "Yeah, no, not today. It's not her time to go.”

Evil Cannot Happen Without People

In “Star Wars,” the Force can be divided into the dark side and the Good side. 

Jedi knights must train, hone and master their connection to the Force, so they can channel the Power of the Force to battle and defeat the dark side.

When a Jedi channels the Force, the Force’s energy moves through the Jedi, to execute Good and Blessings and Real Power and Authority in this world. 

On the dark side, the force of evil moves through negative people like Darth Vader, to execute fear, pain, misery, death and destruction in this world. 

Likewise, in the Real World, the minor force of evil must move through people to execute fear, pain, misery, death and destruction in our world. 

That’s right, evil has to move through negative people.

So when it comes to the age-old question:

Why do bad things happen to Good people? 

Why do wars happen? Why does genocide happen? Why do governments bomb schools full of girls? Why do terrorists kidnap schools full of girls? Why do all of these horrible, terrible things happen?

It’s because evil is able to move through negative people who live their life on the dark side, like Darth Vader.

The duality that is explored in "Star Wars,” it exists in real life.

This is why it is of utmost importance to proactively choose to the live on the Good Side and not the dark side of life and morality and Truth and Love. 

Because that determines whether you have positive, Divine energy moving through you. Like a Jedi.

Or evil, demonic energy moving through you. Like Darth Vader.

Your Soul's Connection to the Divine

These are a few of the enlightening things I have discovered:

As a journalist, objectively researching the spiritual and the supernatural. 

And as a travel journalist, who has interviewed people on topics of Love, faith and spirituality around the world.

The incredible Truth is: 

Almost everyone on Earth is spiritual. Almost everyone around the globe believes in something bigger or higher than themself. 

They might have a name for it. They might not have a name for it. They might have a personal relationship with it. They might not. 

But they believe in its Power and its existence.

Why is that?

Well, it’s because we all have a Soul. 

We all do. Even the people who seem soulless, even the people who execute wars and genocide, they still have a Soul. 

So what is the Soul? 

The Soul is older than your body. Your Soul predates your body. Your Soul has way more information about who you truly are than your mind or your body does. 

And the best part, your Soul is eternally connected to the Divine. 

Because the Divine is the Source of life. The breathe of life in your body is a Gift of the Divine.

Since every human being on Earth has a Soul, then means that every human being on Earth is connected to the Divine. 

The word "Divine" has the word "vine" in it. A vine can go as far as it wants, but it is always connected to every extension of itself.

Every Soul is connected to this energetic, metaphorical vine of the Divine. 

Whether you are a Good person or bad person… Whether you are a Jedi or a Darth Vader… You are eternally connected to the Divine. 

The real distinction is:

Are closely and deeply connected to the Divine? 

Or you are moving further and further and further away from the Divine to the dark side.

So, even though we have the expression, "that person is soulless," they're not soulless. They have a Soul. The problem is they don't have a deep connection with their Soul, and therefore they don't have a deep connection with the Divine. 

Which means that they don't have a close and deep connection for the positive, Divine Force of energy to move through them to make a positive difference and influence in this world. 

Instead, the way that they live their life, they are much more a konduit for the dark side. They are a konduit for negative forces in this world that can negatively affect other people, including you and me.

The Keys to a Happy Life

In Season Two of my podcast, I discussed the two most important things you must do to enjoy a happy, Loving, fulfilling, and impactful life. You must:

• Live a life that is True.

• Live a life that is Loving.

You must be True and Loving to yourself. And you must be True and Loving to everyone else. 

A key element of this is: Self Love. Self Love is exceedingly important. 

The number one reason it is vital is because it connects you more deeply and closely with your Soul — your True Inner Self. 

Your True Self lies in your Soul, because your Soul predates your body. 

Self Love connects you to who you Truly are. Self Love helps you find, discover and fulfill your Mission and Purpose in life. Every single person on earth is a Soul with a Divine Mission and Purpose for being on this planet at this specific time. 

You are here for a reason. You are not here by accident. You are born with Gifts, talents, and abilities that make you 100% Unique, compared to anyone else on Earth. 

Not only are you Unique, but you are uniquely created and uniquely loved by the Divine.

🎧 Listen to Part 2 >

www.sashatobago.com

Self Love is an Inner Journey of discovering and accepting Yourself for who you truly are; while also challenging Yourself to grow and evolve into your best and highest Self in your Lifetime.