This time of year, wise men get a great deal of attention – as they should.

But as I look back on the past year, I find myself appreciating all of the wise women who were a part of it.

These are the women that may not have made a loud splash in my life but instead helped me quietly navigate both rough waters as well as the still waters of day-to day living.

Their experience, intelligence, kindness, humor and support refilled my toolbox with gems I will treasure for the rest of my life.

And just as the following gems have helped me deal with difficult people and tough circumstances, I have no doubt that the wise women in my life would want me to share them with others.

And so I will:

“The older you get, the less and less you care about what others think. That’s the beauty of getting older and the reason we can take joy in embarrassing our children on a regular basis.”

“Sometimes we just have to sit back and watch other people implode when their desire for importance exceeds their ability to actually be important to anyone else.”

“Men will never laugh so hard they pee their pants. That’s kind of sad.”

“Some people are intimidated by a strong woman, but that doesn’t mean you should stop lifting your intellectual weights. Take pride in the fact that they can’t win an arm wrestling contest with your mental muscles.”

“Keeping your mouth shut is sometimes much more powerful than saying anything at all.”

“We rub elbows with delusional people every day. These are people who think they are leaders but never turn around to see that not only is no one is following them, but many are running as far as possible in the opposite direction.”

“Being honest in a resume is far more important to the soul than getting a job based on half-truths.”

“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with sleeping in a pretty dress if it makes you feel good about yourself.”

“Mean and angry people are actually very sad, broken people who don’t realize how unhappy they are until they are standing by themselves yelling at an empty room or, even worse, standing silent in an empty room because there is no one left to listen.”

“Life is one big choice. Choose to embrace those things you love, forgive the people you don’t love and let go of everything in between. In the end, all that matters is that you weren’t hateful.”

As I review these gems, I can only look forward to yet another year with wise women who can once again fill my tool box.