What I Know for Sure summary

Previously, Oprah hosted an episode of her show that featured married men who had been unfaithful. After chatting with them, she realized that there was one common reason why they all cheated on their wives: the men felt loved and special with their mistresses – and not with their wives. However, they were seeking love in the wrong place.

Oprah also used to believe that love and the good feelings associated with it came from being with someone.

The power of gratitude is a concept in which Oprah has always strongly believed. For more than a decade, she wrote five things for which she was grateful in her gratitude diary every day. But, just like us, Oprah sometimes found it difficult to appreciate what she had and focused instead on what she didn’t have.

One constant that Oprah has difficulties feeling gratitude for is her body.

Given all the successes she’s achieved in her life, it would seem that Oprah exemplifies someone who has reached their full potential. But Oprah herself doesn’t agree with this claim, and she is still on the hunt for new ways to improve.

One thing that Oprah does agree with is that no matter your age, you should never let fear stop you from becoming the best version of yourself.

When Oprah first started hosting her show, she struggled to deal with the expectations people had of her. Fans would show up regularly to the studio and seek her help, including runaway children and women who had been abused. Oprah tried to help everyone, but she soon became overwhelmed by all the commotion, eventually realizing that she had to start turning people down.

This realization came when Oprah took a moment to remove herself from the situation to consider why she was pushing herself to help an impossible amount of people: the reason, she found out, was because she wanted to be liked. Or more accurately, she was afraid that people wouldn’t like her if she told them no.

Oprah’s birthplace, Mississippi, was known for being home to the highest number of lynchings of black people of any American state. Segregation was a common facet of everyday life there, but despite this racism, young Oprah managed to find flickers of inspiration during bleak times.

First, the 1950s and 1960s were a period when black adults were hopeful that their children’s futures would be bright. In 1954, for example, the same year that Oprah was born, the Supreme Court decreed that African Americans would have the same rights to education as white Americans. This access to education was further emphasized by civil rights activist Jesse Jackson coming to Oprah’s school in 1969. Jackson told Oprah and the rest of her school that one must pursue excellence to defeat racism. Oprah wrote Jackson’s words down and stuck them to her mirror, where they stood as a reminder for her to become the best person she could be.