As anyone who's ever been in a coaching relationship knows, one of the power tools of a coach is asking thought evoking questions. So, this past week I decided to give myself such a question as a way to deepen this week's purposeful pondering article. The question: If I had only one last opportunity to share an insight / Life Lesson with my daughter, Amber, what would it be?

At first, it had me stymied so I gave myself a deadline as well, to move along the muse. Here's what I came up with.

We really do have the power to make up the meaning and purpose of our life each and every moment. The source of all emotional & mental suffering is not what happens to us, but what we make it mean. In other words, we may not always have control over what happens to us. We do, however, have control over what we make up about it IF (and it's a big if) we choose to exercise this power of choice.

So simple on the surface. So profound when we actually take this on and live from it. Truthfully, it's the foundational lesson upon which the Life On Purpose Process is based.

Many people simply haven't committed to taking control of one of our most powerful, potentially life enhancing tools -- our mind. Instead, we've made the mistake of misidentifying ourselves as the by-product of our mind, our thoughts and the accompanying emotions those thoughts elicit.

The default mechanism of our mind is for it to spin off thoughts based in fear, lack and a need to struggle. This is especially true whenever we feel threatened, and in today's age, there's plenty that we feel threatened by.

Ok, let's identify this automatic nature of the mind, and yet also realize that one of our greatest, God-given gifts is the power of choice. Do we choose to embrace those automatic, fear-based emotions, and thus become them, or do we recognize them for what they are, allow them to move on, and then choose other thoughts and emotions that are based in Universal Love, abundance and flow?

Amber is 13. I watch her as she works with these ideas. Sometimes she succeeds, and sometimes she fails, just like her mom and dad. But as I watch her develop into a young woman, I think about my own life at 13. What would my life have been like if I had learned this life lesson earlier? How much emotional angst and drama could I have avoided? TONS! So, if I could give you only one last life lesson, my dearest Amber (and my dearest, rest-of-humanity), it would be this one...at least this week. Practice consciously creating the meaning of your life, choosing thoughts and emotions founded in Universal Love, abundance and flow, and enjoy your life on purpose.

What is the purpose and meaning of your life?

How could you practice this life lesson this next week?

Who else could you share this lesson with?