You feel alive when you have goals and you are pursuing it relentlessly, you don't mind if you got hurt or if you fail. All you know is you need to make it happen. That is what makes you feel alive, that is what will make someone feel alive. You have a purpose, you are living your values. You have your own decision and it cannot be affected by outside influence. That is what is being alive, being free to make your own judgement.
You feel alive when you feel a little pain. Tell me honestly, what makes you feel good after doing these two things: 1.) Running with all your strength for a few kilometers 2.) Jogging at ease for at least 1 hour.? I am very sure number 1 is harder because lets be realistic using all your strength is not a good feeling but after finishing running in your full strength how do you feel? amazing right? it feels like you earned something and it feels like you BECOME STRONGER. While on the other hand, jogging at ease is also good but it feels like it is very easy. After finishing jogging with no resistance you feel like the same way. It feels like you didn't expand and you wonder if you really burn some calories. The summary is you need a little bit of pain to feel more alive.
You also feel alive when you succeed big time, when you accomplished what you thought you can never accomplished. For example you beat an opponent who is in favored by everyone. He is twice as strong as you but you beat him. The fight was close but you still beat him. Winning a fight in a close margin feels a lot better than beating an opponent who is no match to your strength. There is no feeling of aliveness on beating someone whom you think you can beat before the match starts. There is no thrill in something that has no challenge. It is like earning a money that you really work hard for, it is better than earning money through gambling or winning a lottery. Earning something with little sweat is not sweet.
You will also feel alive if you escaped death, it is because of the adrenaline rush. That is why there are lots of people who were so addicted in extreme games and activities that may kill them. Escaping death gives a good feeling. Look at the participants of extreme games, the divers, the racers. They feel so alive because what they are doing may kill them but they manage to escape every now and then. I am not a big fan of this activity but if you really want to feel alive find a sport that is so dangerous and will give you thrills. It will awaken all the senses of your body, you will appreciate life even more. It is true that if you really want to experience something, you should experience the opposite of that thing. So if you experience a near death experience and survive it that is where you feel alive the most.
One more thing that will make you feel alive is appreciation. Imagine how it feels when your crush greeted you happy birthday or notice your shirt. You feel like you won the whole world right? appreciation is another thing that can make someone feel alive. That is why a lot of people are addicted to facebook likes, when their posts were like by thousands they feel that they are worthy and popular. But don't get addicted so much to appreciation. You may feel alive once in a while but what if nobody appreciates you? what if your post in facebook has gathered only 3 likes? Learn to handle your emotions and don't based your feeling of being alive connected to things that you have no control.
