The phrase “Living Alive” might not make sense – after all, if a person is breathing and the heart is ticking, are they not living and alive? Actually we can be living dead. A 1995 movie named “Dead Man Walking” was based on a true life experience of a prisoner on death row in the Angola state prison in Louisiana. In the early 1900’s prison guards there had a practice of shouting “Dead Man Walking” when an inmate was enroute to execution. Broader application is to indicate anyone whose life situation seems inescapable or hopeless;
The Bible speaks to this – Adam and Eve died in their Spirits as they disobeyed God. Romans 8:13 speaks to death from living according to the flesh and life in living according to the Spirit. There are many life situations where people feel like they are indeed living dead – stuck in a rut- they have become immobilized by the events of life. That immobility can keep a person in a state of mere existence – taking up space, without sensing the life within and without.
When a person is literally alive, but with a life experience that seems to be just existence, it can be much like the dormancy that we wee in nature during the winter. All of those hardwood trees, fruit, trees, and flowering bushes may appear to be dead and seem to do nothing but take up space during this season. However, as the season of spring rolls in, we begin to see signs of life such as growth and productivity of leaves, fruit, and size.
Dormancy happens to us as humans also. Just as with nature, we have life times that we need to step back, sit down, and rest or take time to contemplate. Our sleep is actually a time of dormancy and there is much physical renewal that takes place as we sleep.
Too much sleep can limit function. An example is sleeping too much when depressed. In the depression, that excessive sleep can be an escape from living. Other practices of dormancy can also limit us. Examples are with most areas of our lives. We can be physically dormant and gain weight and lose optimal functioning. We can be mentally dormant and start to dull or thinking capacity. We can be socially dormant and both lose the mutual benefit of friendship. We can be financially dormant and watch our money lose value.
Our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, gave us choice of life or death in our living. We can live alive if we choose to embrace all that life can be and act on that. Or we can live dead by just sitting dormant and let the world outside of us push us around.
Call to Action – Take a minute and answer these questions for yourself.
- What impact am I making on the world around me?
- What impact is the world around me making on me?
If you require yourself to live alive more fully, contact us at either 601-745-5394 or email us at info@mylivingalive.com.