All of the awards, applause, Twitter followers, shoes, it will all go away eventually. But if I can leave the world slightly more hopeful, inspired, and more healed than when I arrived, I did my job.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.
I realised those things my ego needed - fame and success - were going to make me terribly unhappy. So I wrenched myself away from that. I had to. I had to walk away from America and say goodbye to the biggest part of my career because I knew, otherwise, my demons would get the better of me.
I got very famous for a minute and then it just all went away, you know? And for the last 20 years - you've got to pick yourself up and dust yourself off and then go on your merry way and start again, in a sense, and that's what I've been doing.
The accolades, just like the scrapes and bruises, fade in the end, and all you're left with is your ambition.
I hope the millions of people I've touched have the optimism and desire to share their goals and hard work and persevere with a positive attitude.
I feel like if I won an award and I was giving my speech and the music started, that's all I'd remember, the humiliation I felt when the music started. It would mar the entire experience for me.
My goal was never to win awards. Mine was let me get to a place where I don't have to work. I don't have to do anything I don't want to.
If you stick around long enough, people start referring to you as a survivor. Suddenly I found myself on the receiving end of several prestigious awards.
The only work that will ultimately bring any good to any of us is the work of contributing to the healing of the world.
When I came here in 2008, nobody knew who I was. I didn't know who I was. I was just enjoying the moment and I won. So, now, coming back being the person I am with all the accomplishments, it kind of puts things in perspective.
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