What It Means to Be Alive

Written on March 17, 2023

Before we can figure out what it means to be alive, we should first find out what it means to live. Of course we can do a study on what it technically means, but the answer will most probably begin and end with being able to draw breathe, but we all know that that simply isn't enough, that isn't living. To live is to feel and to see. To have emotions, either good ones or bad ones.

We should ask ourselves at the end of every day, did I feel like I've lived today? It happens less often than you might expect. People wake up, shower, get ready to go to school or work, arrive at the place of destination and sit for hours on end, mindlessly doing what others are saying they should do. The moment they come home they start looking at their screen of choice — either their computer monitor, television, or smartphone — and watch video's to distract themselves. Going through an entire day without any thoughts being thought or feelings being felt.

Try to remember the last time you actually felt like you were living. Were you watching the television or short addictive video's on your phone? Probably not. You were probably with people you love, feeling emotions and having conversations. Maybe you were outside and felt the warm sun on your skin, looking around and seeing the birds fly from treetop to treetop.

That is what living is. That is what it means to be alive. Drawing breathe is to technically be alive. To actually be alive is to feel alive. Don't let your life pass you by.