The Wisdom Contemplations (Part 3 of 4)

The Mindset Shift for a Meaningful Life

This month, in place of the usual Deep Resilience episodes, I’m sharing The Wisdom Contemplations. Four guided reflections to help you reconnect with deeper wisdom as the year comes to a close.

In this third contemplation, we explore a powerful inner shift: moving from a life built only around résumé virtues (achievements, status, success) to a life guided by what researchers call “eulogy virtues” – the deeper qualities of character and heart that make a life truly meaningful.

Drawing on David Brooks’ distinction between résumé and eulogy virtues, we look at the research on what actually leads to fulfilment, and then move into a guided reflection with four simple questions to help you reconnect with what truly matters to you: who you want to be, how you want to love and contribute, and the kind of life you’ll be glad you lived.

You’ll also be guided through a short meditative process to let this wisdom land in your body and heart, so it doesn’t stay as an idea in your head but becomes a living orientation you can carry with you into the new year and beyond.

Resources & Links

Free Meditations: https://melliobrien.com/free-meditations

My book Deep Resilience: https://melliobrien.com/deep-resilience-book

The Wisdom Contemplations (Part 2 of 4) Who Loved You Into Being?

This month, in place of the usual Deep Resilience episodes, I’m sharing The Wisdom Contemplations . Four guided reflections to help you reconnect with that deeper intelligence as the year comes to a close.

In this second contemplation, we explore the question: Who loved you into being?

Drawing on an endearing story about Fred Rogers, this episode guides you into a deeper awareness of the support that helped form who you are today you.

You’ll also be guided through a short meditative process to integrate the implications of this reflection, opening the heart and reconnecting with the quiet truth that none of us walk this life alone.

This contemplation is a gentle reminder of your belonging, your interconnectedness, and the love that has shaped your path in ways seen and unseen.

Resources & Links

Free Meditations: https://melliobrien.com/free-meditations

My book Deep Resilience: https://melliobrien.com/deep-resilience-book

This is the first episode in a short end-of-year reflection series called The Wisdom Contemplations: four guided contemplations designed to help you reconnect with deeper wisdom and clarity.

At this time of year, many of us become focused on goals, improvements, and next steps. While reflection can be helpful, this constant push to optimise life and improve ourselves can also pull us away from our deeper intelligence the quiet wisdom that helps us sense what truly matters, what’s no longer aligned, and how we want to live.

In this first reflection, Seeing from a Higher Perspective, you’re guided through a simple contemplative practice to help you step out of being caught in plans, problems, and fears, and reconnect with a more spacious, grounded, and wise perspective within you.

From this higher view, your life can be seen more clearly. Emotional charge softens. Perspective widens. And instead of effortfully trying to figure everything out, a deeper knowing can begin to guide how you move forward.

This episode is an invitation to pause, step back, and let clarity emerge naturally.

Key Links and Notes:

Melli O’Brien:

https://melliobrien.com

Free Deep Resilience Resources:

https://melliobrien.com/#deep-resilience-care-package

Reflection Questions from this Episode:

You may like to sit with one or two of these questions after listening, either quietly, or with a journal.

• From a higher perspective, what no longer needs to be carried forward into the next chapter of my life?

• What patterns, habits, or attitudes am I ready to let go of?

• From this wider view, what truly matters to me now?

• What qualities do I want to live from more consistently, such as kindness, courage, presence, or care?