My old boss comes to Arizona sometimes to visit his daughter, and we get together for lunch and fantastic conversation. The last time he was here, we ended up talking for hours. In the end, I was giving him advice about everything from life to religion to relationships. What is more remarkable, I wonder.. the fact that I can give advice to someone 25 years my senior, or the fact that he takes every word of it to heart?

I possess an incredible amount of clarity regarding my own life and the world around me. Looking at others, from people my own age to people twice my age, it seems that such a quality is not typical.

I was told once that most people go through a "crisis of faith" in their mid 40s. It doesn't have to be related to your religion; you can call it a midlife crisis, you can call it a parenting crisis, you can call it anything you want. The truth is that what people experience is directly related to all of the above. Typically, the crisis comes from a wake-up call in the form of either a realization that your kids are growing up and it's your responsibility to shape their lives, or a realization that you're not young anymore and you might not be leading a fulfilling life. No matter what triggers the wake-up call, the conclusion is the same: you begin to have a different perspective of life. Drastically different. A perspective that life should have a deeper meaning.

More and more I'm seeing that many of the people with whom I surround myself have reached this point already. Even more astounding is how young we all are. We're having our "midlife crisis," just 20 years early. The most remarkable thing about it, however, is seeing that they have come out of it with a clarity of purpose and understanding of life. I see it in them because I've found it too. And sharing that level of understanding with someone is breathtaking.