5 essential ways to channel your midlife wisdom

If you are privileged enough to make it to midlife, you will arrive with a wealth of experience, insights, intuition, and deep understanding and knowledge of people and the world, all of which can be used to shape a more contented life. Here are 5 essential ways to channel your midlife wisdom, which will enable you to use your unique know-how and funnel it into pure wisdom to benefit you:

1. Reflect: An essential and often underrated and rushed part of any worthwhile process. Take time to reflect on your experiences. Journaling or simply contemplating your life journey can help you recognise patterns, lessons learned, and personal growth. Think about when you were happiest and identify the contributory factors to this happiness.
2. Seek Meaning: Research proves that people are most content when they have a life purpose. What is meaningful is different for different people. Explore what truly matters to you and feels like an essential part of your life moving forward. What gets you out of bed in the morning? What gives you a warm motivated feeling inside that arrives naturally requiring little effort or need to psyche yourself up!
3. Talk it out: Find an outlet to talk about what you want to do with your life, listen to our own narrative. This is often why therapy works so well because it can be really impactful to hear yourself put words to and voice your ambitions, hopes, dreams and passions aloud in a supportive and safe environment.
4. Welcome Change and Experimentation: Accept change as a natural essential part of life. We all change as we age and what’s important to us now may be different to what was important to us 10, 2 or even 30 years ago. Move with the times. Change can be anxiety provoking so be aware of what lowers your nerves and strengthens our resistance – it might be relaxation, connecting with nature, sport or being around people who love you. Embrace learning, embrace new hobbies and new people. Trial and error will move you nearer to what truly resonates for you.
5. Embrace your inner ‘Crone’ or ‘Sage’: “Crone wisdom” refers to the wisdom, experience, and insight associated with the archetype of the “crone” in various cultures and mythologies. The crone is one of the three traditional aspects of the Triple Goddess, representing the stages of a woman’s life: maiden, mother, and crone. The crone is often depicted as an older woman, past her childbearing years, and embodies wisdom, intuition, and deep understanding gained from a lifetime of experiences. Crone wisdom is not limited to women or a specific age but symbolises the culmination of life’s experiences and the profound insights gained from them. Crone wisdom emphasises the value of ageing, seeing it not as a decline but as a stage of life that brings its own unique strengths and insights. It’s about embracing the fullness of life, acknowledging its complexities, and sharing the accrued wisdom with others for guidance and support.

Wisdom often emerges from the amalgamation of experiences, self-reflection, and a willingness to learn. It is a comprehensive understanding of life, accumulated through experiences, knowledge, introspection, and the ability to apply insights gained in a meaningful and discerning way. It goes beyond knowledge or intelligence; it involves using that knowledge and understanding to make sound judgements, navigate complexities, and live a more fulfilling life.

Wisdom is deeply personal yet universally relevant evolving as we grow, learn, and integrate experiences into our understanding of the world. It’s not solely about age; people of various ages can possess wisdom based on their experiences and how they apply their insights to navigate life’s challenges. At midlife, why not embrace this stage of life with openness and curiosity and see where it takes you.