Don’t just be alive, feel alive

What makes you feel alive? For me, it’s a lot of things. It’s the sound of my kids’ laughter. It’s the way my wife smiles at me. It’s listening to loud music, and playing it, too. It’s competing with myself to be the best I can be each day. Of course there’s more, but you get the idea.

I believe it’s important for us to feel alive, not just be alive. Don’t get me wrong, we should be grateful for the lives we have, but a lot of us approach our lives by just going through the motions. If we’re going to be alive, we might as well do something that makes us feel alive, too.

So how do we capture that feeling? How do we integrate it into our lives? I invite you to read the questions below. Take them seriously, and answer them as truthfully and as honestly as you can. Feel free to share what comes up for you.

When was the last time you felt truly alive — like your hair was on fire (in a good way)? Where were you? What were you doing? How were you able to do it? What does feeling alive give you that’s so important? Who are you when you’re feeling alive? Who benefits?