Wounds, Wisdom, and Midlife Growth
Meeting Our Scars with Compassion and Readiness to Explore How Adversity Can Spur Deeper, Soul-Anchored Living
Please see the disclaimer for this series.
Series: The Midlife Homecoming
Key Themes: adversity; intrinsic motivation; stages of change; resilience; ambiguous loss; radical acceptance
Abstract:
This reflection explores how midlife invites us to gauge our readiness to explore how past adversity can become gateways to growth, resilience, and a deeper, soul-aligned sense of self.
What does it take to let go, grow, and change in the societies we inhabit?
During a recent trip ‘home’, I visited a familiar coastal naval town, where history still lingers in the architecture. Once vibrant, it now feels suspended in time, the buildings carrying a silent heaviness — as though echoes of bygone times still cling to their walls.
Some landmarks hum with life, drawing visitors from near and far, while much remain unchanged, caught between past and present. Over breakfast at the harbour, carefree memories surfaced, woven into a bittersweet story of disruption, loss, and scarred identities still seeking renewal.
Midlife carries a similar layering—what was, what remains, and what is still becoming. Psychologists describe it as a threshold or liminal space inviting us to release what we’ve outgrown and make room for what is still unfolding. In this liminal space, growth becomes less about forcing change and more about cultivating the inner conditions that allow transformation to emerge.
The Paradox of Wounds and Cracks
Scripture reminds us: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” John 16:33.
Rumi offers a poetic lens: ‘The wound is the place where the light enters you.”
Yet, when you’re in the middle of a life storm none of this brings immediate comfort. As Sue Monk Kidd writes:
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Midlife Reflections to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.