Structure. All of our lives have a certain structure to them, although many of us are completely unaware of the structure of our lives. When was the last time you thought about it?

And why would you/should you? Because structure provides a sense of predictability and security. For many of us, work is the key to the structure of our lives. Think about it: five days each week we leave home early in the day, go to a place with a lot of routine activities in it, then return at a relatively set time each day. Two days a week we have to our personal life.

Even if you're like me and have constantly sought out work that isn't very routine, you can discover that there is still routine to it. It frames and shapes the flow of our lives. It gives us something to complain about when we are at odds with ourselves. For many, it becomes the window through which we fantasize about the more perfect future that awaits us, perhaps on some golden island or verdant golf course.

The sudden lack of structure that work has brought to their lives can be extremely jarring and if it isn't anticipated and planned for, can create the conditions ripe for the development of depression, anxiety or heightened crankiness. Think about it, you've spend 30, 40, 50 years living the 5 days away from home 2 days at home, getting up at 6 and going to bed at 11 routine. Your neural networks are well and truly habituated to this rhythm of living and poof, one day it is gone forever. Sure there is an initial exhilaration from it all, but slowly and surely the craving for habit begins to exert itself and you are left feeling out of sorts.

This is where 'meaning' and 'being' start to become important conversations. What have you created in your life that offers meaning on an on-going basis that will fill the space that the routine work used to fill? Who are you 'being' in life that provides a whole different structure to your daily life.

For sure there are no easy answers to either of these considerations, but I believe they are critical to living a long and successful life. Do you ever wonder why you are here on this earth? Do you have any clarity about your life's purpose? Do you know what difference you make by taking up space on planet earth? There is significant evidence that the people who live the longest and are the happiest are those who have taken the time to create an awareness about their relationship to these big questions.

It took me a long, long time to figure out but I know that my purpose in being here is to be an expression of irrepressible possibility. Say what? After reflecting on my life and all the hardships I've experienced, I began to realize that the essence of who I am has a cork-like quality to it ...I always bob to the surface and keep moving forward no matter what happens. And I find that each time I bob back to the surface I begin to notice new possibilities for living that weren't accessible to me previously. So I know that phrase speaks to what I have to offer the world. And I know that as I move through my days "being" an expression of irrepressible possibility I am not always welcomed or appreciated by those whose paths I cross. There are those (hard to believe, but true!) who find me irritatingly positive or who get downright pissed off because I don't accept that the world is a miserable, dog-eat-dog, every man for himself place. I'm totally OK with that response and keep right on moving past those folks, knowing that there are many, many others who are just about to give up and for whom my presence will be the invitation to reclaim their lives.

I think that one of the reasons I don't see myself 'retiring' for a very, very long time is that I like the structure that my work provides to my life. I have created a way of working that is easily adjustable to the amount of energy I feel I have at any given moment; one where I feel that I am in control of my life. I take on only as many coaching clients as feels fulfilling; I screen those I do work with carefully so that I know there is synergy between what we are seeking to create; I limit the frequency of the workshops I offer and only work with very small groups so that I can get to know people. I leave lots of room in my schedule for painting, visiting with friends, traveling back roads to find new vistas and painting locales, working in my garden or whatever else captures my fancy.

Have you thought about the structure conversation?