Fully Alive
By Steve Gahagen
What does it mean to be fully alive? We seem to live in a culture of sadness. Despite the abilities of technology, some have described this as the age of disconnection. We often struggle with not feeling fully alive.
Have you ever been asked the question, “How are you?” We all have been asked and have asked it more times than we can remember. More often than not, our response consists of some version of, “I’m fine,” “I’m good,” or “Not bad for someone who is getting old” paired with a polite smile. We don’t even think about it. It just comes out, and in that moment it’s likely quite true. We may not have just won the lottery, but we aren’t bleeding from a head wound either, so…we’re fine. When is just being fine not OK?
If you’ve ever applied for life insurance you’ve experienced the awkward moments of the traveling nurse coming to your home asking all kinds of questions and retrieving a few samples. The questions are meant to provide confidence to the insurance company that you’re not going to die. The last thing they want you to do is die, for obvious reasons. I’m not sure why we call it life insurance, it’s really death insurance.
But what if the questions they asked were less about if you’re going to die and more about if you are really alive right now? What if they denied you insurance because there was no evidence that you were fully alive?
Living in our strengths can help us be fully alive. When we are following our passions and living in our strengths, we find our blue flame - the place where we burn the hottest and the brightest.
Questions to Consider:
Ask two people close to you this question: What would you say are the three most powerful proofs that I am alive?
When do you feel most alive? What brings you great joy?
How can you leverage your strengths to help others be fully alive in their work and life?