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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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The Path Made Clear summary
Oprah Winfrey
Discovering Your Life's Direction and Purpose
19 mins
Topics
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The Path Made Clear
Summary of 6 key ideas
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Key idea 1 of 6
Everyone is born with a purpose. To find it, we need to pay attention to ourselves.
We’ve all been driven to despair at some point in our lives. Maybe this comes as a moment of spiritual crisis where we question our values, our faith or the meaning of life itself. During these moments, when we’re lost and overwhelmed by negative emotions, it’s hard to believe that there’s a unique purpose for which we were born.
But the fact is, every human being has a calling – an essential role to play while we’re here on Earth. To discover our calling and embark on our own path in life, we first need to identify what makes us the person we are – the seeds of our identity. Often, the seeds inside of us are immediately recognizable, and they only require a bit of nurturing to take root. If someone is born with an innate love of reading, for example, they’ve probably been watering this seed with literature from an early age. One day, they might flower into an author or librarian.
At other times, these seeds are hidden away deep in our souls and we only discover them later in life. It’s important to remember that our lives are never static. Every moment of our lives, every choice, success and failure, is a chance to discover and nurture more seeds.
Just take the beginning of Oprah’s career. Before she found fame with The Oprah Winfrey Show, she worked as a news anchor in the early 1970s for several networks. Although many would be delighted with such a job, Oprah was dissatisfied because she knew she wasn’t being true to her authentic self – she wasn’t making decisions in her life that reflected her inner self. Her bosses weren’t happy either – they told her she was the wrong size and showed too much emotion.
As a result, in 1978, Oprah was demoted from news anchor to co-host of the talk show People Are Talking. This was a positive experience because she discovered her true calling – a seed hidden away in her. Interviewing the businessman Tom Carvel on her first day, a passion engulfed her. Suddenly, she realized that she was meant to engage in conversation and listen to people.
To discover your own seeds, live your life with full awareness. Once you do, your seeds will begin to germinate and sprout. However you find them, they are already planted within you – it’s just a case of listening to yourself and life’s little whispers.
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What is The Path Made Clear about?
Finding the path we’re meant to take in life, and figuring out how to take it, are some of the greatest personal challenges we must all face. Oprah Winfrey addresses this in her new book, The Path Made Clear (2019), offering insight into this spiritual journey and sharing the wisdom she has learned throughout her career.
Best quote from The Path Made Clear
I dont believe in coincidence. I know there is a divine order to the magnificent mystery of our lives.
—Oprah Winfrey
Who should read The Path Made Clear?
- Lost souls looking for spiritual guidance
- Self-reflective people seeking to better themselves
- Oprah superfans who crave more of the great woman’s wisdom
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