Do you ever remind yourself that you are alive and exist?

I'm just a confused person lately.

It's a really bizarre idea, but yeah, I have to do that occasionally. I start thinking that since I am alive I am going to die, as is everybody that I know. Where does all that consciousness go to? Why am I alive and why do I exist? Why am I answering this question right now? Maybe that is why I exist...just to answer this question posed on Yahoo! Answers. Eventually none of this will be here because the planet is going to end sometime, the sun is finite, as is the solar system, as is the galaxy, as is the universe. Everything we have ever worked for will eventually not matter.

Nothing is permanent...except perhaps nothingness.

This is an interesting question, b/c my answer is one of the questions I answered earlier today. It seems to be a trend....

Yes, I do remind myself that I am alive and exist - all the time.

Yes, there are disciplines/practices for the purposes of keeping this awareness, since, if you are always aware of this fact, it can alter the way you live in the present moment.

The Buddhists call it 'mindfulness', and in Catholic mysticism it is called the 'practice of the presence of god' or the 'sacrament of the present moment' or 'abandonment to divine providence'. I have studied mindfulness, but am more of a student in Catholicism, but in either case, the idea is similar:

If you were to contemplate the fact that the past in unchangeable, and the future is uncertain, you would place greater value on the present moment. There is no guarantee that there will be a future moment, right? No one knows for certain that life will continue for them past the present moment. So, awareness of the present moment is a great gift. To fully appreciate it, we must strive to be fully aware of the experience of living RIGHT NOW.

Most people live, most of the time, completely mindless of the value of the present moment. They eat on the run, they squander their time on useless amusements, and spend 8 or more hours a day working to "get it over with" and enjoy the bit of time they hope to have afterwards. This is not living. Fulfillment in life is realizing the opportunity for joy and contentment in the present moment, and striving, always, to find that great treasure in the here and now. Done properly and most perfectly, this will lead to seeking an expression of charity/compassion/love in every present moment, for oneself, for others, for God.

It is a life-altering practice, and if more people were to put it to use, the world would indeed change for the better.

That's so college.

I'm a being older than time, kid, compared to you, and all I can tell you is that as you grow older and wiser you begin to realize that there are already too many reminders of that, and what you could really use is relaxed, drowsy lesser level of that reminder, and just chill-ax, you know what I mean?

Besides, women don't really dig all that gooshy stuff. Just be cool, and do whatever they say, or they will hurt you bad, son.

Watch out for the women. They're dangerous. They have claws.

They're the nice ones, God Bless their beautiful hearts.

That you are here—that life exists, and identity;

That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.

— Walt Whitman

no i dont really think of it much,i dont have a close relationship with reality and am hardly aware of anything,i walk about in a great big fantastic blur.

I love the feeling that I am alive and exist. I feel blessed with infinitely more than I deserve. I believe that we are designed to want to exist eternally. I know I do.

I think of all the other times I've had that feeling. Often, it's when I'm seeing live performances, like Broadway musicals. I'll think to myself "this isn't like a movie, that I can rewatch again and again. This is the only time this show will be performed in this exact way, and it's the only time I'll see these certain actors doing it!"

I don't have to remind myself that I'm alive, my alarmclock does it everyday. I have no idea why they would teach anything at that ungodly hour, it's almost impossible to learn anything through bloodshot eyes.

Ah, fill the cup- what boots it to repeat

How time is slipping underneath our feet:

Unborn tomorrow, and dead yesterday,

Why fret about them if today be sweet?

Omar Khayyam 12th century.

yes. this is called SELF-REMEMBERING.

Notice how that when you do it, you can only maintain that awareness for a few seconds before you start to become identified?

We wake up, we look around and then we fall back to sleep again.

How to permanently wake up? Are there methods? Tools? Help from people who have permanently woken up themselves and are now teaching others how to become conscious?

Who knows?