The mother of three teenage daughters asks, “Does judgment improve?  Do we get better at dealing with other humans, at making the right call?” I guess this is a question about growing wisdom.  Can we do that?  Do we do that?

And the answer is “Yes.  And such insight is rooted in brain biology,” says Barbara Strauch, health and medical science editor at the New York Times, and author of Secrets of the Grown-Up Brain.  Her book is based on extensive interviews with dozens of neuroscientists, psychologists and cognitive researchers.

It seems by middle age our many dealings with real people in the real world have created “brain cells devoted to navigating the human landscape.”

Scans show parts of the frontal brain that deal with emotional regulation maintain their functionality better than some other parts of our brain as the years go on.

And it’s the ability to regulate our emotional state along with our mental “prowess” plus our life experiences that is part of growing our wisdom.

I loved the sound and feel of the word “prowess” so looked it up in the dictionary.  Prowess:  ability, accomplishment, aptitude, attainment, command, excellence, expertise, genius, mastery, skill, talent.  That sounds well worth achieving to me.

So if you have entered your middle years, that is, over 40 years old, then bask in the recognition, knowledge and acceptance of your increasing “prowess,” and if you are younger, you can see what your life’s ups and downs are preparing you for.   Your are growing wisdom.

One of the advantages of middle years is that wisdom can start to show through in how you handle day to day events, and even know when to reign in your impulsiveness, to keep your reactions in check, to hold your tongue, to consider, before taking action.  This has saved many a relationship, as well as ended some too.  When we reign in our impulsiveness, we take time to draw breath, weigh up, to feel into the happenings and consciously choose how to best handle it.  It’s not just a knee jerk reaction.

Looking back we will recognize how much wiser we are today compared with when we were age ten or fifteen or twenty or twenty-five.  It’s an on-going development, a growing into our selves, a maturing, a ripening to a delicious and nutritious peak.

In our times this ripening, our middle years, has been prolonged to sixty-five, sixty-eight, and even longer before becoming over-ripe and declining.   There are many people in their seventy-s and eighty-s who are still growing their brain, still involved in harnessing their experiences and insights in a way that surpasses their earlier years, still contributing to nurturing and nourishing their family, their local community and beyond.

So the scientific news is that our brains continue to change, grow new cells and connections, and remold existing pathways, as we master the challenges life presents us with along our journey.  It doesn’t happen over night.

We’ve often heard “You cant put an old head on young shoulders,” and that’s not just referring to appearance.  It refers very specifically to exercising wise judgment when the pressure is on.

Study results from the financial sector show people between forty and sixty-five years more easily grasp the consequences of financial decisions and have better judgment in general.

Certainly, in 20s and 30s there seems to be plenty of time down the track to knuckle down and be consistent and considered.  In those early adult years tasting all life has to offer is a delicious and exciting option for many.  They can’t yet envisage living at a different pace, or a more settled way.  And don’t particularly want to.

The capacity to savour, really absorb, and internalize the wonders of the world, not just be excited but to be in awe, of nature, of people, tends to increase as the years go by.

This depth of appreciation is to go from doing to being, from active thinking to no thought, to just living in the majesty of the moment, like watching a sunset, breathing it in, being in stillness, to recognize and experience a sense of oneness.

We are amazing beings and being in tune with nature, in the outer world, makes us more aware and in tune with our inner nature too.

Wisdom comes out of calm and stillness in the middle of activity and chaos.

And that capacity for growing wisdom is being tracked by science now to identify the specific changes that occur in the brain as we mature our wisdom.

I’m glad we don’t wait for science but get on with living our lives and grow wisdom as a satisfying side effect.

Cheers

Anna McRobert
07-3378 2050
anna@annamcrobert.com