When and where were you last alive

Garmin Southern Africa launched a campaign titled Where were you when you last felt alive  in 2014 and I found it interesting as it triggered questions for my pondering mind. So one can be alive without feeling alive, as in breathe but not be alive? You know when last you were alive and where you were? You can be moving around but you do not feel alive? Being alive is both related to time and place? There are places where you feel more alive than others? Am I really alife? I realized that this is very true for there are 365 days in a year but we only remember a few of them as having truly lived them. The rest we are on auto pilot without even thinking about what we are doing. I previously wrote a post entitled I am alive and it narrated some of the things I do which show I am alive. I think we all know of times when we were more alive than we are now. When we were more zealous and energetic than we are now. The question is, what made us so alive at those moments? Without reference to age, I believe we can be alive in many ways. I have in fact heard people speak of past experiences and say things like "I have never felt so alive". And some of these are very short bursts of liveliness and quickly back to the normal dearth. If I was to ask you this similar question, where were you when you were last alive, would you speak in the now, or in the very distant past? I have also thought about what can make a person feel alive and will break it down below.

• Engage in activities that are outside your normal way of life. The bold ones go for extreme sports like skydiving, bungee jumping, large music concerts also arouse life.

• Move away from what you have done for too long and do something new to resuscitate life within you.

• Create new networks that speak differently to your life and make your mind tick in a different way.

• Determine to find life in many of the things you do.

May you be alive as you go through 2015 and not merely exist in this world. there is a vast difference.

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Realisations, resolutions, realignment and reflection

Realisation is defined as becoming fully aware of something (gaining a full understanding of an issue). It is also the achievement of something desired or the conversion of an asset into cash (a financial outcome like profit or loss becoming reality). I want to focus on the definition of becoming aware of something where you realise that maybe you are not happy, or something is wrong with your business or you have become disillusioned about something. When you realise something, usually you take action on that realisation in a logical manner to correct the problem. If you realise that the reason the electricity is tripping is a faulty connection, you will get an electrician to come and fix it and get rid of the problem. If you realise that someone you thought was a friend is badmouthing and pulling you down, then you confront and talk to them about it or deal with them on an arms length basis going forward. Realisation is the initial step in a process of change that follows. As the year begins, many people talk of new year's resolutions, which are firm decisions to do or not do something. These resolutions come from realisations picked up in certain areas during the course of a prior year. While I do not agree with the inherent implication that one should pile up resolutions in one year until a new one starts and then make new year's resolutions, it is still a good way of revealing that someone has been taking stock of the year's events and intends to change things. Resolutions can relate to things that have moved from an initial perfect state to an undesired state (the obvious weight gain), though sometimes it is a realisation of something that has always been but, is no longer desired. So after a realisation, one resolves to do something about it and then moves to the realignment stage where the issue is restored back to a desired state, or at least effort is made to. Realignment changes and restores things to a desired state after which reflection follows to ensure that this is indeed the desired state and is still in line with the future long term state desired. Reflection may then lead to another round or realisation, resolution and so the cycle goes. So as you start the year, may you go through these steps and make sure that when you reflect in any area, you can smile and enjoy the results thereof. My only advice is not to pile up your realisations until the year ends and then start to resolve to change but, to make it a continuous process throughout the year. I wish you a year of inspiration, progress, growth and happiness!