WHAT I KNOW FOR SURE

 Oprah Winfrey was born in 1953 in rural Mississippi as a result of unwanted pregnancy. Her mother (who was not married) concealed her birth until the day she was born. And now she hosts American talk show, is an actor, a producer, author and a philanthropist. 

In this book she shares her life experiences and what lessons they have taught her. So let's learn from the brief analysis of this book about what she 'knows for sure' and wants all of us to know too. 

JOY 

• Everyday brings for you a chance to live free of regret and filled with as much joy, fun and laughter as you can hold. 

•Life is full of delightful pleasures. We just need to take a moment out of our busy schedules to appreciate them. Recognise the gift of today because some day we will die, so live now. Live in present.

•Involve yourself in goodness, kindness, compassion and love and you will get whatever you desire from your heart. 

RESILIENCE

•Many of us experience things that makes us feel unworthy. Healing these wounds can be the most worthy challenge of life. But, always remember, this is our responsibility. 

•There is one irrefutable law of universe : we are each responsible for our own life. 

•Oprah Winfrey was sexually abused when she was 10-14yrs old and at the age of 14, she becomes pregnent but her child died few weeks after being born. She, at that time, was so devasted and ashamed of herself and starts blaming herself. 

•What it teaches her is that : when we know who we are and what we stand for, we have nothing to be ashamed of. When you remove the fear, you find the truth. 

•Every challenging experience is a valuable teacher. All hurdles have meaning and being open to learning from them is the difference between succeeding and getting stuck. 

•People who persevere also face doubt, fear and exhaustion but they have faith that if they take just one step more than they are capable of, they can achieve their goals.

CONNECTION 

•One desire that we all human share is : We all want to be valued. Yearning to feel heard and needed is so very important. We all want to feel like we matter to somebody. 

•In her 20s, Oprah threw her boyfriend's key in toilet to prevent him leaving her. She thought herself to be nothing without a man. Until she learner that love and approval she craved for can't be found outside herself. 

•Look inwards, the love begins with you. You are your best mother, father, sister, friend, cousin, lover, that you will ever have. Happiness is something you get from yourself and not from others. 

• The key to solve any relationship problem is communication. It's always best to ask the other person : What do you really want ?

•Love others by heart but don't become dependent or slave of it. Be loving to yourself and to others and see that love reciprocates, this rule works everytime. 

GRATITUDE 

•Oprah has a habit of keeping gratitude journal and advices everyone to write every night about things we are grateful for. It can be something as simple as eating cold watermelon, playing with your kids etc. 

•If you appreciate whatever you have in life then you are not focusing on what you don't have which will regenerate more goodness in your lives. 

• Gratitude is the quickest, easiest and most powerful way to help you move from negative to positive form of energy. 

•Gift of gratitude is that you cannot have ego while you feel grateful. 

•Stop self criticism and start loving and be thankful for the body you have and start giving thanks for small things. Start owning what and who you are. If you love your life and yourself you can't be jealous of others. 

•Always keep in mind that you are no better or worse than anyone else. You are simply your own self. 

•95% of the beliefs we have are nothing but lies and we suffer because we believe in all those lies. One of these lies is that getting older means getting uglier. You can refuse to buy this or any other beliefs you think isn't right. 

POSSIBILITY 

•Always strive for your full potential, which means become the best version of youself. 

• Fear will always try to keep you from becoming your best self. But you should know that whatever you fear most has no power of itself, it's your fear that has the power. 

•First, know what you fear about because you can't eliminate something you haven't acknowledged.

•We mostly fear about others, about what will they think. So long as you think so, you will be owned by them and not by yourself. 

•World is always telling you what you can't do, what you can't become and if you fear and have self doubt, you will become so exhausted that you quit and even worse, you will stuck in miserable rut for years. 

•Never waste your energy to prove anything to others  instead prove it to yourself. 

•Don't be one of those who empty themselves in an effort to silence critics instead of following their passion. Don't try to please others.

• Other people are not the problem. Whatever the situation is right now, you have created it for yourself with every choice, every thought and every experience. So never blame others. 

•Do something which you love so much that you will do it no matter if you get the salary or not.  When you make the process your goal, your dream life will follow. 

•Nothing happens until you decide. We become what we think we would become. 

•Fill your life with joy not with regrets. Wealth is a tool that gives you choices but it can't compensate for a life not fully lived. 

• When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. 

CLARITY 

• Oprah learned to say 'NO' to others at the age of 40. She was earlier consumed by the disease to 'please others' and thus always used to say 'YES'.

•Having history of abuse means history of not being able to set boundaries and it becomes difficult to regain the courage to stop people from stepping on you because there is fear of rejection. 

•Understanding the concept of intention will help to cure the disease of pleasing. 

•Before saying Yes, ask yourself, what is your intention behind doing what other person is asking you to do. Never say yes just to ensure that other person should not be angry with you or they would think you are a nice person. 

•You can beat the disease of pleasing once you accept who you are and you no longer have anything to prove to others. 

•Always give back to yourself. Put your needs ahead of anyone else so that you can do more for others. Breaks give you more energy and good mood. Like Oprah gives herself Sundays, free from all her work. 

•Always be aware of your time and control what you do with your time. Protect your time because it's your life. Don't waste time if you don't want to waste yourself. How you spent your time defines who you are. 

•When someone spreads lies about you, it's not about you. Gossip reflects insecurity of those who initiates it because they feel powerless and unworthy. We gossip because we don't have the courage to directly speak to the person. Freeing yourself from gossips would save a lot of your time to do significant work of building your dreams.

•Give enough time to your body by taking care of it either through exercises or eating healthy diet. It is a priceless investment. 

•When you don't know what to do, do nothing until clarity comes. Listening to your voice and not to the voice of others, quickens clarity. 

FAVOURITE LINES 

•Every soul yearns for freedom. Freedom isn't only about not having a master, it's also about having choice. 

• Don't be so wrapped in nonessential stuff that you forget to enjoy yourself. 

•We are artists of our own life and we can use as many colours as we want to. 

•There is a thin line between pride and ego. You have to step out of ego to know the truth. 

•Real relationship brings you joy most of the time. It should never require losing your voice, your self respect or your dignity. It should bring you out exactly how you are and even more. 

•It doesn't matter where we live or what we do for a living what matters is what makes us laugh, cry, grieve, learn and rejoice. 

•Having best things is no substitute of having best life.

•No matter where you are, you are only single choice away from new beginning.

•It is an awesome gift to be alive on this beautiful planet. Make this time as bright as it can be. 

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