When I launched the Wisdom Research Project, I was searching for answers—How do people overcome hardship and rediscover purpose?
Let me share a bit of why that question mattered so much to me.
In 2013, I started experiencing unexplained imbalance—something as simple as wearing heels became difficult. I was given a diagnosis and began a course of treatment.
But something didn’t feel right. There was no single moment when I realized the diagnosis was off. I just wasn’t getting better. In fact, I was getting worse.
Eventually, I was diagnosed with Lyme disease and a new course of treatment and symptoms changed my life’s course.
For years, I put my trust in Western medicine and everything I’d been trained to believe. I was the poster child for academia—a biochemistry major, then a practicing medical doctor. But eventually, I had to step away from the ER, my practice and the career I loved.
What came next was exploring something I had never studied in school:
Wisdom
What began as a personal search eventually became a professional mission—to understand how people move through life-changing obstacles and still find meaning. Through that work, eight powerful wisdom skills emerged, each one a practice that can gently and powerfully guide us back to purpose, connection, and joy, even when everything around us is shifting.
Life may not look the way it once did, but that doesn’t diminish its potential for beauty, joy, or depth. If you’re navigating loss, change, or simply longing for what used to be, I want you to know that I understand and you’re not alone. There is a path forward—one shaped by wisdom, strength, and hope. And with each step you take, you’re building a new kind of resilience that can carry you through whatever comes next, no matter how uncertain.
