Women’s wisdom is gained over a lifetime, not just by aging, but by paying attention along the way and learning from both successes and mistakes. I wrote a whole book on it, once I reached a point when I felt secure enough to share it publicly. Here’s an excerpt from the preface:
Life can be exhilarating and exhausting, joyful and heart breaking. A perfect, always-happy life does not exist, yet we strive to become whole. Most women desire love and affection, rewarding relationships, to be of value, to raise decent children and grandchildren, to live meaningful lives. We seek purpose, character, and our own identity. We generously share our favorite recipes for cooking, so why not help each other by sharing our wisdom, too?
Writer Sarah Ban Breathnach believes, “Women are artists of the everyday. We are keepers of the sacred truth. We must cherish this wisdom and pass it on to those we love.” That idea of living and learning in community is what motivated me to write and publish my book Women’s Wisdom: Pass It On! When I ask women if they’d like to be in their twenties again, they invariably reply, “Only if I could know what I know now!” As enticing as that might seem, it’s impossible.
Gaining wisdom, of course, requires us to reflect on our experiences. However, it seems one of the biggest obstacles is that our lives constantly seem to be in fast-forward, with little time to pause, to wonder, to think. We respond to the urgent, too often pushing aside what’s truly important for ‘later.’ Decide now to make what’s ‘important’ to you a priority. Live your life on purpose.
Collectively, we women possess an abundance of wisdom, so let’s pass it on!
(quote from Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Simple Abundance, August 29 entry)
by Kathleen Vestal Logan, MS, MA May 26, 2017