I've seen this topic, the gap between philosophy and life, being discussed a lot in Buddhism. The Vietnamese Buddist monks usually talk about "Đạo và Đời" meaning "Religion and Life." The monks explain why they don't get married and laypeople can. If we generalize the concept, it can become "Philosophy and Life."
The answer is practice. It's like math. In order to understand a concept, we need to practice. In the information age, we often assume that we understand some concepts by just reading Wikipedia pages. We all strive to be polymaths. We want to discover the next great philosophy. But we end up being confused. Practice is the key to understanding. Frequent mediation, having quiet time, isolation are forms of practice.
The answer is practice. It's like math. In order to understand a concept, we need to practice. In the information age, we often assume that we understand some concepts by just reading Wikipedia pages. We all strive to be polymaths. We want to discover the next great philosophy. But we end up being confused. Practice is the key to understanding. Frequent mediation, having quiet time, isolation are forms of practice.