If I were asked to give just one piece of advice to every human being on this Earth, it would be this:
You are incredibly valuable.
Your abilities, your qualities, your capacity to learn, grow, transform, and contribute are greater than you may presently understand. Do not rush past these words. Sit with them. Understand their meaning, because the way you understand your own value will influence the way you live your life.
Protect every breath you are given. Respect every space you are privileged to occupy during this journey of life. Do not take your existence casually.
Work hard—extremely hard—but let your hard work begin with attention. Pay attention to yourself. Study yourself. Discover who you are beneath fear, habit, expectation, ego, and the opinions of others.
Then extend that same attention to the world around you.
Learn about your neighbor. Learn about your fellow human beings. Observe the animals, the birds, the plants and the trees. Pay attention to the air you breathe, the moon above you, the soil beneath your feet, the rivers, the oceans, the forests, and the countless forms of life sharing this Earth with you.
The more you understand yourself and your environment, the more clearly you begin to understand that life is interconnected. You do not stand outside nature; you belong to it. You do not live alone; your existence touches other lives, just as their existence touches yours.
And through all of this, keep your ego under disciplined control.
Let your ego be a servant of your consciousness, never its master. Ego that is uncontrolled can prevent learning, damage relationships, distort judgment, and make a person believe they already know what they have hardly begun to understand.
Humility keeps the door of discovery open.
There is an African wisdom that teaches us that knowledge is like a great tree: no single person can embrace it completely. Life is too vast for arrogance and too precious for indifference.
So protect your life.
Develop your abilities.
Study yourself.
Study the world.
And never forget:you are valuable, but your greatest value is revealed through what you become, what you understand, what you protect, and what you contribute to the life around you.
