No more Hogwash!

3 Wisdom Pivots to upgrade your 2025

Hot take: 2024 is now your past. One of my greatest revelations at 60 was discovering the adventure continues. I grew up with foolish cultural narratives like “Don’t trust anyone over 30” & the myth that it sucks to be “over the hill.” So I thought later life was all downhill. HOGWASH! I’m proclaiming from said hill, “The view is pretty danged swell up here!” Our power is in the present moment at any age, Sisters. We define success for ourselves now.

Your fulfillment, your security, your sense of purpose—these are in your hands in 2025. That’s why deciding how you define these words is everything. There’s so much we can do to make 2025 wonderful! (I can hear the political retorts in your head. Y’all, what an opportunity to stop dwelling on what we can’t control & focus on what we can.)

2025 will be great to redefine what Security, Purpose & Fulfillment look like for you now. Definitions shift over the decades. It’s so much easier to index our choices when our values are clear. I’m advocating for 3 actions in 2025 that were my greatest game changers in 2024. Consider any or all to up level your experience. I’m not okay with any narrative telling us we’re irrelevant. Instead, I’m ready to luxuriate in the knowledge that life makes more sense now. Let’s spread our wings. Who’s with me?

Let’s make it a great year!

First, I’m advocating for choosing Hope as a 2025 perspective shift. These days, there’s a strong narrative out there that cynicism is smart. But cynicism is reductionist, fear-based thinking that assumes everyone is only out for themselves, so you must be too. Sure, some folks behave that way. Do they strike you as truly happy? I’m betting a positive perspective nets more fulfilling returns. I don’t mean being a Pollyanna. Noticing life events that validate the framework “My life is happening for me, not to me” is a gift that keeps on giving. This framing gives me room for hope that better is possible. When life gets tricky, I remind myself there are often options I can’t initially see. That tiny shift of Hope drops my shoulders & creates space to notice opportunities instead of attacks. I call that a Wisdom Pivot.

As I discover new ways to navigate challenges my life feels more expansive with each Wisdom Pivot. Ultimately, Hope is a more empowered & satisfying strategy than cynicism. This small shift from navigating by fear to trusting that life holds hidden benefits nets greater peace. It’s also revealed a pattern in my life that Something greater than me has my back. Call it Love, the Universe, God—whatever speaks to you. My second Wisdom Pivot of Trusting Love to reveal greater clarity to us in tricky situations has been transformational. Trusting Love is a baller strategy time and again. First, I had to see my life was working FOR me, then to realize a Higher Power was supporting me as I cared to notice it. What’s the 3rd Wisdom Pivot?

The acclaimed investigative journalist Lori Jane Gliha sagely told me that most people think there are two sides to every story, but she’s found there are at least five. Staggering revelation! At first, it overwhelmed me, especially when thinking about making good choices. But in my overwhelm, I learned this pivotal truth: I don’t need easy answers to be safe or happy. That sentence changes everything. The real problem is thinking I need things to be clear, safe or easy to be happy. The reality? I’m capable, even as I’m coming to terms with uncertainty. When I face fear I’m firing up the 3rd Wisdom Pivot of Leaning into Courage.

When my brain generates fears like, “What if this happens? What if that doesn’t work? You’ll look stupid.” I’m training myself to pause, lean into that fear, remember that Love has my back & trust that I always figure things out w/ time. I’ve slain enough dragons by now to see it pays to be courageous. Complexity is just part of the game. And I’m not afraid of it anymore. This is the blessing of age.

Courage as a strategy also disempowers the fear that aging is bad. Women do not have expiration dates, y’all. Just because your knees creak, your back sticks, your hoo-hoo is prolapsing or your hair is graying doesn’t mean you don’t have a lot to give. Your body was never the best thing about you. When that mean voice inside demands to know who you are to do something cool, what if you:

Choose Hope *** Trust that Love has your back *** Lean into your Courage *** See what amazing outcomes flow?

Remind yourself you are fully capable of crafting a life you love, & you have earned the right to do so! I hope you do that in 2025. And I hope you find that your life gets exponentially more beautiful & true. Because it can, you know. That’s something we can see at this age—without readers!