What Makes Us Come Alive

Snowboarding

I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive. ~Joseph Campbell

What does it mean to be alive? … to be truly alive—not just merely existing?

There is nothing wrong with existing. It’s the most important part of being alive. We can’t feel our aliveness if we don’t exist.

To exist is to physically be here, maintaining the life force that is within us and protecting it with every breath, every function and action.

To be alive is to exist and more … to fully engage our mind, senses and feelings … to be in sync with life right now with every fabric of our being.

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. ~Marcus Aurelius

We are most alive when:

  • We’re fully lost in the present moment. We are one with now … one with life.
  • We don’t have any other place to go or any other thing to do. There are no priorities, other than what we are experiencing.
  • We are surrendered to the feelings of this moment—love or fear, joy or anxiety. We allow the feeling to vibrate through our entire being.
  • Time stands still and the clock stops ticking. We don’t think about time or deadlines.
  • Success and failure become unimportant. We are on a journey, unconcerned with where it’s taking us.

When do we become alive?

From my personal experience, we’re most alive when we are experiencing one of the following:

I. Life and death situations

When faced with challenging and life altering situations, we tend to realign our focus with the situation and let all the noise and minutiae fall to the background. Our instincts take over sharpening our senses and numbing our analytical thoughts.

In these moments, we rise to the occasion beyond our wildest expectations. We deal, we persist, and we endure. And we feel alive through the pain and uncertainty.

II. Doing something we love

This is where we experience the magic of life and state of flow (or allow life to flow magically through us).

Pursuing your heart’s desire and highest joy is where you consciously feel most alive.

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~Howard Thurman

We throw all forms of obstacles and excuses—someday and one day become our new calendar. But deep inside there is a nagging feeling that all of our excuses are self-made illusions created to stop us from taking risks in the name of safety.

We all know too well that there is no safety in life—just familiarity.

If you are here right now, there is no reason that can stop you from feeling your aliveness and pursuing your heart’s desires.

There is no loss when it comes to matters of the heart. Even when things don’t work out, the aliveness and joy of the journey bring us to life more than a million familiar or easier choices.

So if  you’re feeling stuck and would like to get out of your head and explore your heart’s desires, I invite you to get this free report: The Passion Myths: 6 Lies Keeping You from Uncovering Your Life Passion.

It’s written by my friend, passion coach Barrie Davenport, who breathes and lives passion in everything she does.

Whether you want to write, create music, make art, play a sport, contribute to your community, start a business, a blog, or a hobby, or anything else, life is on your side. You have what it takes. All you need is an open mind and a trusting heart. And someone to guide you when needed. Check out Barrie’s report and site for more information.

When you follow your heart, you honor the unique gifts that life has graciously bestowed upon you. And in return you become one with life and its blessings.

III. Loving what we’re doing

Doing what we love is a blessing that greatly enhances our lives and inspires people around us to follow their dreams.

Another thing that we can consciously do to feel our aliveness more is to learn to love what we do—no matter what it is.

Every action flows with ease and surrender, with acceptance and appreciation.

Loving what we’re doing is mastery of the moment and life in its entirety. For life is nothing but a culmination of moments. I can never do this topic justice with just a few lines. Consider the following as a brief introduction.

We love what we do by:

  1. Doing one small thing at a time,
  2. Paying full attention to the action at hand,
  3. Giving it our best effort,
  4. Repeating the action without resistance, and most importantly,
  5. Having fun while doing it.

The instinctive life force within us kicks into full survival mode during turbulent times. This is done without much choice on our part.

But we do have a choice in every single other moment to pursue what we love and to love what we do. And in the process we feel more alive than we’ve ever felt before.

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