As women, we are divine beings that only become stronger over time. Our lessons, victories, wounds (physical and mental) victories, and accomplishments forge us into finely honed pieces of art. No, life is not butterflies and roses, but most of the lessons we’ve learned thus far in our journey are hard-fought and hard-earned. And we own it.

We are Wise Women.

We are Knowing Women.

I firmly believe that many of us, as we age, can feel our intuition sharpen and our self-confidence soar. We care less (if at all) about what others may think of us and instead focus our letting our true authentic selves shine.

We care less about the latest trends and "looking the part" and more about being comfortable in the skin that we are in. Our bodies may show the signs of our arduous journey to middle age, but our lioness heart beats stronger as we round the bend to 50+.

As I head towards the milestone of sixty trips around the sun, I look ahead with such hope and confidence. Yes, there are days I don’t want to crawl from under the safety and my bed covers, but for the most part, I look to each new day with optimism. I, like many other Wise Women, have been through the fire more than once so not much scares me anymore.

Over the years, I have been lucky enough to be able to surround myself with other Wise Women. We come from different beliefs, traditions, religions, and regions, but we also have many of the same strong and inspiring traits. I know there are many, many more, but these are the ones that are resonating with me at this moment in my life.

Wise Women Share These 5 Traits

1.We Laugh, Think, and Create: We learn to find joy and laughter whenever we can. It’s not always easy, but when you look for joy and humor in life, there’s always more to celebrate. As Wise Women, the older we get, the deeper our yearning for discovery gets. We become intensely curious and fill our brains with new gifts, habits, skills, and lessons that will us with joy. We stretch our minds and bodies at every opportunity because it feels good to cherish and embrace every second of the day, week, month, and year. We create because we can and because we know what we create can help those walking the same journey behind us.

2. We Strive to Put Ourselves First: YES, this is a tough one. As women, we are naturally programmed to nurture others. It’s like our DNA makes us gravitate towards putting the needs of others before our own. As partners, we deeply care for the well-being of the loved ones in our life. As parents, our children’s needs always top the list. As children of aging parents, we sacrifice our own time and health to give back to the people who brought us into this world. None of this is “wrong,” but as we become Knowing Women, we realize that if we don’t stop putting our own mental, spiritual, and health needs first, we become a shell of who we are. The remedy is to create healthy and nurturing habits whether it’s nutrition, movement, sound, prayer, or meditation, and let nothing distract us from practicing those habits on a daily basis.

3.We Surround Ourselves with Friends Who Build Us Up: The Wise Women who form my inner circle are all ladies who have been in the trenches with me. They have built me up (instead of tearing me down) and lovingly administered tough love when it was needed. In the absence of my family of origin, they are my family and they will always have my back. And I will always have theirs.

4. We Have No Time or Patience for Hate: Hate is like a disease that can spread quickly and sicken our bodies and soul. Hate, meanness, resentment, and pettiness are things that Wise Women have zero tolerance for because we know it robs us of precious time and happiness. Being angry and resentful serves no purpose and is very much like smashing our own toe with a rock and expecting someone else to feel the pain.

This doesn’t mean we don’t get pissed, disgusted, or annoyed. It just means we don’t let those feelings move into our hearts and set up shop for the long haul. We feel the feels, acknowledge them, and let them go.

5.We Know When to be Still: We may be like beautiful flowers who are blooming and growing, but we have also honed the skill of listening to our bodies. We ignore the “you have to’s” or the “I should” (I should go to the party because_____” when our bodies say “rest.”

We know we need to give our brains and central nervous system a break when overwhelm starts knocking at our door and acknowledge that is it perfectly okay to spend the day in bed with good books, furry pets, and plenty of chocolate to rejuvenate and renew.

We know that pushing through weariness because of guilt or obligation may make others happy, but it reduces us to a version of ourselves that is less than whole.

We know that we need to listen to the murmurs, pangs, and nudging of our body, mind, and spirit because if we don’t, who will?

We are all unique and perfectly made beings. There is no mold to follow. We can choose to give in to chaos, guilt, and trauma, or we can do what we need to heal our wounds, cut ourselves some slack, be kind to ourselves, and honor our majesty as women.