Yesterday on Facebook I invited my friends to send me pictures that to them represented a moment of living “fully alive.”a I was amazed at what they sent. If you go here, you can see some of their pictures.
In my radio interviews for the release of “Fully Alive” I was stunned by the stories of courageous radio hosts who were willing to share about their journey back to life. I love people like this who are transparent and honest. The encouragement from their lives is so much more powerful than those who pretend their lives are perfect. So today I have a question for you.
I’m looking for honest answers!!!! It doesn’t have to sound spiritual to be meaningful. It might be as simple as a dive into a pile of leaves. This is not a trick question so fire away.
What moment in your life stands out as a time when you felt the most fully alive? Leave your comment and If you have a picture post it here on my facebook page and let me know in your comment you have done so. To see the other wonderful photos click on the word photos under the pic of little girl in bathtub. Scroll down to the second album, “Pictures of Ken Davis” and enjoy! These stories and photos are a major inspiration to me and those who read this blog.
My next post will be one such story from a 70 year old princess with a 17 year old heart.
Comments
A moment when I felt fully alive was during an art show, a man came up and spent several minutes staring at a piece my artwork. I was standing over behind him, just observing. He turned to walk away and turned back again and just smiled and giggled and stood and stared a few more moments!! I knew God’s talent through me had touched his heart and that was worth more than any compliment in words therm could ever have spoken!!
You already have the picture of my huge smile while kneeling behind my 2 point buck, ok my doctor told me that I can’t call a 1000lb American bison a 2 point buck. However it was earlier that day when I felt fully alive. The event was right after Cindy pulled the trigger and hit her wild pig, her first ever hunt. She said “oh, no;” and I took off like a turtle on a mission, a few moments later I realized that I must have been moving at a pretty good clip as even though I was using forearm crutches I had just passed my able bodied friend Chuck and made it to the downed game before he did. I was runing on pain meds, adrenaline, and life. Upon reaching the pig the first person I thankrd was God.
The day I married Todd.
My best friend, Tracy and I walk regularly. Last summer we were on one of these walks down by the lake front. I live less than a mile from the shoreline of Lake Michigan so this was pretty regular thing. This particular August day it was just one of those times I was just so full of the joy of the Lord. The sky was dazzlingly blue, the surf wild. As the walking path we were on went from sidewalk to sand I impulsively ripped off my shoes and handed Tracy my keys and phone and ran full steam ahead into the crashing waves! For 10 minutes I stood in the surf and jumped into each 4 foot wave that came at me. I laughed like my 7 yr old son. I felt that God was playing tag with me. After my moment of impulsive bliss, I climbed out of the surf and continued my walk and tried to pretend I wasnt dripping wet! So if you ask me if all the moms in Wisconsin were to jump into Lake Michigan would I follow, the answer is no, I would LEAD!
At 42 years of age, it often is harder to let my guard down to impulsiveness (and physical activity)though my heart yearns to be daring. Tracy is good for me. Though she didnt join me in my wild dance with the waves, (who would have held my key?) she is also full of mischief and craziness.
I felt most fully alive when my wife and I sat on a bench in Cape Cod and watched the boats come and go. It was there that we realized the beauty of living simply so we can simply live. It was also there that God planted the seed for “Live Your Why.” My post today is about getting out of a rut. This is step one in becoming fully alive. By the way, Ken, the book is AWESOME! My post is here: https://wp.me/p2fSH9-8n
The day my son was born. I was amazed at the miracle that I held in my hands and knew that he was created by God. That was 25 years ago and I’m still amazed at the wisdom and majesty of God and how He could love us so much!
September 2005, seeing my boys at graduation from Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot for the first time after 13 weeks of separation .
Ken,
This question is very timely. Yesterday was our 53rd wedding anniversary. After an elegant dinner out at a very classy restaurant which was a gift from our children, we came home to watch your DVD, “Bananas”. We laughed ourselves silly, using up one full box of Kleenex for all the laughing, blowing our noses, and crying from laughing so hard. What a fantastic show! Thanks so much for all the moments of laughter that you have given us through the years. We definitely feel “Fully Alive” when we watch you in person or on DVD!!!!
I am not sure I know exactly what you are asking for. I will share 2 times that I felt alive. One was when I was at Community Baptist church in CA which was from the end of 91 to the middle of 93. The worship festivals there made me feel alive as for 90 minuets I worshiped God and felt as if it was just him and me and God was giving me just a taste of heaven. The other was dancing with my dad at my wedding in July of 1998. If I can figure out how to share the picture with you from the wedding I will.
Ken please don’t require all of us to be on Facebook in order to see your pictures. We love you & what you’re doing & hope you do it til the kids & grandkids are eating that spaghetti while they laugh about precious, funny memories. God bless you and your sweet family.
The day when I decided to let go off all the anger, disappointment in life. I stopped comparing myself with others and thinking why the world is so unfair. I began to cherish the smallest thing in life and taking actions to reach my goal.
I have a few of those moments – not to take away from being a SAHM, I love my family and yet I’d gotten in a rut of having the me superglued to others. ie. Jeff’s wife, Dillon & Charlie’s Mom, etc.. — Deana was missing. I needed to find her again. I’d shut down somewhere along the way.
Stand out moments: Taking my first ever vacation w/o my family – I went on a Muse Cruise and went horseback riding through the jungles of Belize, howler monkeys were screaming on all sides. It was amazingly cool. To that same end, galloping on a horse for the first time. Yes, my eyes were closed and I was hanging onto the horn for dear life – but I did it. And when I finally opened my eyes, and was still on the horse, it was amazing.
There are so many moments. My favorite moments are spending time with my husband and son, being outdoors, spending quality time with friends and observing the animals in my backyard. My new favorite is playing the harp on the deck.