When was the last time you realized that you were really alive? When you weren’t waiting for life to happen – it was happening! When did you give thanks for that? Maybe it was when your heart was racing because of some excitement or some news – something good or something bad. Maybe you were so delighted – you won some great prize, some hope was realized – or maybe you were hurting, in so much pain and struggling so hard to get through it that you gave thanks for each breath as it came. Maybe you were giving at a cost to yourself – and you know how that giving reminded you of living. Maybe it was a close call that made you strain for life and remember that – whew – you are still alive. Thank God. When was that?
“I tend to divide my minutes into two categories: living and waiting to live. Most of my life is spent in transit: trying to get somewhere, waiting to begin, driving someplace, standing in line, waiting for a meeting to end, trying to get a task complete, worrying about something bad that might happen, or being angry about something that did happen. These are all moments when I am not likely to be fully present, not to be aware of the voice and purpose of God. I am impatient. I am, most literally, killing time. And that is just another way of saying I am killing myself.” 1
Tell me a tale about a time that you knew that you weren’t wasting your life – that you knew that you were really living?
1.Excerpt from The Life You’ve Always Wanted by John Ortberg © 1997, 2002 by John Ortberg
NURTURE 
August 17th, 2020 at 8:50 am
The last time where I felt like I was really living was when I found out that we could come back to school.
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August 17th, 2020 at 2:04 pm
The one time where I felt like I was really alive was when I went to my first concert. It was a miracle that I was able to get a ticket with my friends as they were a famous group of singers. I always dreamed of seeing them in real life and hear them singing, and I was a fan of them for a very long time. When the concert started, my whole body was shivering from the chills. I was actually here seeing them singing right in front of me. It didn’t feel real at all.
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August 17th, 2020 at 2:10 pm
The last time I really lived was in late 2018 to early 2019. I had gone through something pretty rough but I had the best people who are still in my life today come out of nowhere and help me. Both of them are still my close friends and I try and talk to them everyday as they are in my old school.
But towards october of 2018, things started to get really good for me especially with my relationships. Up until early 2019, before June, it was the best time of my teenage life. I did everything with my best friends and had the most fun we could.
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August 17th, 2020 at 2:10 pm
The moment that I felt I was really alive was when I finished all my to-do list assignments and just chill and relax while doing my favorite things to do. (listen to music, walk alone, go to parks, talk to friends, eat favorite foods..etc) After having a hard time while doing all the hard assignments, I felt really tired and harsh, but after that, I feel alive and happy.
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August 17th, 2020 at 2:12 pm
When was the last time you realised that you were really alive?
I realised that I was alive when I was really young. I was on a floaty and it suddenly got flipped. I fell and I did not know how to swim so I just floated in the water with doing nothing. My dad came to get me and then I started crying. Looking back at the time, I noticed that I was alive. I mean I guess it might have been close to me drowning but I did not so. Made me thought of the fact that I was alive
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August 17th, 2020 at 2:12 pm
When I had a lot of fun with my friends because thats when I knew that time enjoyed is not time wasted, its living to ur fullest
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August 17th, 2020 at 2:13 pm
A time I was really living was summer of junior year when my and my friends went white water rafting and were out often having fun as a farewell because I was leaving for Singapore.
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August 17th, 2020 at 2:14 pm
When my brother came back to visit after he had moved back to Australia. It was weird not having him around for such a long period of time, and the fact that we needed to get used to it. When he visited we were able to spend a lot of time with him but to also reminisce on life since we moved around. I felt really happy that all of us were able to be together before he started his new phase of life. We did a lot of things that we never did when we lived here, which was strange considering we lived here for like six years.
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August 17th, 2020 at 2:15 pm
I felt like I was really living when I had the motivation and time to do what I loved. The school year had finished, and I got to spending my circuit breaker well. I got to relax and take in this newfound freedom. It was a time where I felt sociable, awake, and inspired. I wasn’t wasting my time for once.
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August 17th, 2020 at 2:16 pm
I knew that I wasn’t wasting my life when I practiced a lot for an upcoming competition during the summer and received 1st place. After getting the award, I felt that I was really living and was not wasting my time in life at all.
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August 17th, 2020 at 2:17 pm
I feel ailve whenever I produce something. More specifically, when I cook for my siblings, I feel like I’m really living and not wasting my life because I brought joy to them. Moreover, I recently began to write bible whenever I have free time instead of scrolling down instagram pages because I wanted to do something productive that is educational. The fact that I can produce foods and knowledge motivates me to do more productive things which boosts my quality of life. The action of cooking makes my parents and siblings happy and the action of writing the bible makes me and God happy. Whenever others are happy because of me, I fee like I am really living.
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August 17th, 2020 at 8:11 pm
I think it was when I was doing my Bible study with friends online – It was refreshing for me to remember I still had friends beside me, even during the pandemic when we cannot meet up as often. We learned about the New Testament, which kept us alive in Christ. I thank God that the pandemic in Singapore is not as serious as it used to be (circuit breaker), and for giving me reassurance that He will continue to guide me.
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August 18th, 2020 at 9:01 am
A time I felt that I was really living was when I was on a mission trip in Thailand. I remember looking around and seeing the smiling faces of all the students in a run-down school, and thinking to myself, “I am so glad that I am able to experience this.” The joy you get from serving others is a reminder that there is so more to life than just simply surviving.
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August 18th, 2020 at 9:05 am
A time that I knew I was really alive was when my AP scores came out. I felt alive because all those months of studying felt worth it and I felt that my time wasn’t wasted when spending those hours studying for it. It felt like I made an achievement and made progress.
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August 18th, 2020 at 9:09 am
The last time I felt like I was alive was after I recovered from Crohn’s diseases. I got diagnosed 4 months ago. My condition was serious for a long time, I was losing weight at a rapid pace. I couldn’t eat properly, I lost almost 12 kg and I really thought I was gonna die at some point, I was put on a liquid diet for a month and in July, I started to recover and that’s when I really felt I alive. I was able to properly walk and I could eat properly.
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August 18th, 2020 at 9:11 am
When someone says thank you to me that really makes me feel alive. It makes my day better. No matter how small the deed was it will still feel nice when someone thanks you. This has to be one of the best things to happen in your day.
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August 18th, 2020 at 9:16 am
I knew that my life had not gone to waste when I received compliments from my history teacher last year. I still remember an unusually bright day and sky as blue as painting. I felt auspicious for some reason because of that. Then as I walked into the history classroom, I noticed that our teacher was smiling at me. Then she said cheerfully, “Joy, Emilia, and Emma, when I read your essays I was impressed since you did beyond what I’ve asked for. Your essays should be left as examples for next year’s class.” After hearing those words, I felt over the moon. It was especially since I did not usually get an exemplary mark for the essays. The atmosphere felt like another universe and I felt like I was flying. It seemed like my efforts finally started to glow. So I almost sang “Hallelujah!” since this was the first time I went above the expectations.
Then my memories about my thoughts about wanting to give up were shattered into pieces. They’re just my old memories now.
Joy Kwon
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August 18th, 2020 at 9:18 am
The last time I felt really alive would probably be the volleyball game our team played against UWCE. It was a really close game that went all the way to 5 sets and many people were watching, including both the UWCE teams and ICS teams. Everything was really exciting, and it was all very present at the moment. When we won at the very end, it felt very alive and made me realize everything that was happening at that very moment. It definitely was a moment that felt like I was really living.
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August 19th, 2020 at 8:32 am
I think I realized that I was really living when I came to High School because I got older and the older I get, the more responsibility and independence I got from my parents and school in general. I really started worrying about my future such as career, school work, and others. I am no longer living and depending on my parents as much as I was when I was a little kid.
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August 20th, 2020 at 8:34 am
My uncle, a former commercial pilot, took us up in one of his personal planes (Cessna 182) while my family and I were visiting in Texas. About 20 minutes into the flight he came on the radio and asked “Do you wanna fly it?” to which I replied, “Of course!”. He then handed the controls over to me in the co-pilot seat. My 11-year-old aviation enthusiast self was over the moon. Not even tall enough to see out of the front of the plane, I had to rely solely on the avionics to tell me where we were going. 20 munites later, it was time to land. The wind was blowing 15 – 20 knots perpendicularly to the runway causing a crosswind. Landing in a crosswind requires a unique approach to the runway. It involves dipping the wing into the wind and landing on one wheel. This is the most alive I have felt in my life.
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