They do not bring coherence to our lives. In all of these cases, there is nothing intentional about our actions. A family member is upset and suddenly we are trying to ‘fix’ whatever is wrong. We get an impulse that we need something and we drop what we are doing to respond. An e-mail pops up and captures our attention. In the first case, we are busy and doing all the time because we are reacting to things the world is placing in front of us. We are doing activities that are important but we are not taking the time to experience the meaning and value they are adding to our lives. If our lives feel busy, it typically means either that we are engaged with activities that are not aligned with what matters most to us. Our lives can either feel busy or they can feel meaningful. What is the connection between coherence and meaning? When our lives are coherent, all the parts make sense and are consistent with what we value and what we care about. What we give our precious time to reflects what is most meaningful and important to us. The work we do and the way we do it is aligned to what matters most to us and both bring out and reflect the best in us. The way we speak is consistent with how we want to be understood and experienced in the world. The way we spend and invest our money is consistent with our values. When our lives are coherent, things make sense. So what does it mean to have a coherent life? Coherence is unified, smooth, consistent, and has the quality of wholeness. In sports, it is easy to tell when the players are operating as a coherent team or when they are disjointed. A second definition states that the parts have the quality of forming a whole. They have the quality of being logical or consistent. In the literary sense, Coherence means that all the parts of writing or argument work together. The word Coherence is not a word we use every day unless, perhaps, we are an English Teacher, an athletic coach, or a physicist who works with sound/energy waves, but it is amazingly important to the quality of our lives. What does it mean to have a coherent life?
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