Great news - this week here on WIP, we're making lists! Who doesn't like lists? No one! Everyone likes lists! So every day this week we're listing all kinds of things for the fun of making lists and for the obvious benefits lists bring to our lives, while glancing at gorgeous nature photography. We're starting with 5 ultimate ways to feel alive. What a great topic to start with! Feeling alive is, after all, what life is about. I think. Here goes.
1. Taking a cold shower.
Subjecting your body to a temperature below its normal state puts it through a shock reaction - especially your skin, the main organ that experiences the cold water. The feeling will be so overpowering you cannot help but feel more alive. You can enhance the feeling even more by spending a few minutes in a hot steam room before stepping under the showerhead.
2. Being super productive.
You know that good feeling you get when you've finally got something done? That's because you sense you've made some sort of difference; you've had an impact on something, and that kind of proves to your subconscious you exist. So if you want to feel alive and get something done, decide you'll grind you butt off the next hour or two, and feel the sensation afterwards.
3. Feeling cold winter air on your naked body.
This is again about temperature, but in a different way than the first. You won't be submerging your body to cold water; rather, on a winter evening, undress yourself and open a window to let cold wind burst in and lick your body. You'll notice which part of your body it hits first - other parts remain comfortably warm - and then it spreads, hitting the other parts as well. Keep the window open as long as you enjoy the alive feeling, then close it and jump in your bed under a blanket. Unlike with the shower, where the icy water lingers on your skin, you get to restabilize your skin temperature immediately.
4. Sprinting uphill.
This is, in my opinion, the best part about running. Jogging is fun. Sprinting is fun. But sprinting up a hill, your muscles screaming, your lungs gasping for air? Nothing beats the feeling. The strains you feel in your body are evidence of your aliveness, and being able to resist the desire to slow down and give your muscles and lungs a break makes you feel invincible. (Not to mention the endorphin rush, or how a cold shower feels after a sweaty run. Precious.)
5. Speaking in front of a live audience.
This is actually a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you might go into this trance where you recite your speech out of memory without really listening to yourself - which doesn't make you feel alive at all - and your mind goes like gosh this is actually happening omg i'm doing it what the hell stop shaking take a breath you got this move a little point with your arm. On the other hand, if you don't go into the trance or are able to pull yourself out of it (and especially if you have stage fright), mastering your movements, tone, speech, intonations, and eye contact with the audience can really make you feel absorbed in the moment and feeling the life in you in the situation.
So there you go - five ultimate ways to feel alive! Go do these things, add your own personal favourites to the list, and embrace life in the fullest sense!
RK
