It takes a near death experience. . .why?

The idea about something and the reality of it are very different things. A person can say "I 'm not afraid of that big bad lion" but put that person in the lion cage and watch what happens. Death for most people is just an idea, and being an idea it is separate from the real experience. As soon as the real experience knocks on the door, for real, then the experience shocks the mind into a new sense of reality and they will change forever. Trauma, the awakening of the mind to a distasteful reality, has a way of doing that, making people better or bitter.