This past weekend, I started a book club with some women in my apartment complex. I suggested we read Oprah’s “What I Know for Sure”, as this book has consistently been popping up in my recent conversations and I decided to take it as a sign from above. Just reading the title of the book instantly sparked a conversation among us. We went around the table and each discussed what “I know for sure”. So today, allow me the privilege to impart upon you what I, in my tender twenty-five years of life, know for sure.
What I know for sure is that you should always listen to your heart and be very cautious of listening to your mind. It is said that we were born with one of the most powerful tools known to mankind – the mind. Yet to this, I must disagree. On any given day, I find myself a lone warrior in the battlefield of my own. At work, my mind will attempt to dissuade me from raising my hand or challenging an idea. It screams loudly, “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” My mind is not curious. For it tells me constantly, “Don’t ask that! What a silly question!” My mind hates taking risks. I know this because it projects fears when I consider taking one – albeit, these fears are almost never realized. My mind is also distrusting of love. It whispers, “Don’t invest yourself into this. It will only end up crushing you and causing you pain. Happily ever after does not exist.” If I listened to my mind, my life would be a roller coaster ride, perhaps the Tower of Terror. Fortunately, I have never listened to it.
I am an agent of the heart. The course of my life has been navigated by my soul and Intuition is the name of the warrior that triumphs day in and day out on the battlefield over my mind. The heart has led me around the world – from leading projects in Africa, taking solo journeys along the teacup valleys of Rwanda, to living in the rural countryside of Sichuan and the crowded city of Beijing. The heart has made me bold and given me the courage to lean in to my career, despite the presence of fear. My heart is curious and a lifelong learner because life is so crazily magical and fascinating! My heart recognizes that love exists and seeks to develop compassion, empathy, forgiveness and patience – traits that can make a relationship withstand the sands of time. Thus, my morning routine begins with actively trying to quiet my mind through meditation. Because what I know for sure is that when my mind is still, the voice of my heart is louder, and this is the voice that has never lied nor led me astray.