Transcending the Flesh

I will not use the shortcomings in this world as an excuse for the shortcomings in me. My path is not to imitate what is wrong, but to lead in what is right. Each positive example I set by actually embodying or being what I believe in improves this world.

I am willing to lead.

I was doing a show on victims confronting their criminals. A 17-year-old girl was on the air speaking to the man who, four years earlier, had beaten her beyond recognition and left her for dead. She’d had 17 surgeries and complete facial reconstruction. She said to him, “I don’t hate you. I hate what you did to me. And I have had to learn to forgive you so I could go on with my own life.” To this day it is the most powerful thing I’ve ever seen. In that moment, she expressed why we’re here – to learn to love in spite of the human condition, to transcend the human condition of being fearful. We get so bogged down in worldly things we don’t understand that we’re here for a spiritual quest. Understanding that this is a journey is the most exciting part of being human. It has revolutionized my life.

Oprah Winfrey