That's what kept me going. Her conviction that failure doesn't matter made it easier for

me to succeed. There was no plan B lurking on the edge of my consciousness, distracting me, calling to me.

Because life and love and the moment were plan A and we'd always have those and so why would you

ever need anything else?

Ariana Havinton grew up in an unassuming one bedroom apartment above the bustling streets of

Athens, Greece. What she lacked in material things she regained many times over in the rich home

her mother created for her and her sister. There, at their kitchen table, Ariana's spirit of

adventure was born and it was there that her mother taught her the universal wisdom of embracing

life's journey without being attached to the outcome. In this series we blend immersive first-person

stories with mindfulness prompts to help you recharge at any moment of the day. I'm Rohan and

I'll be your guide for a meditative story.

The body relaxed, the body breathing, your senses open, your mind open, meeting the world.

Every time I go back to Athens I return to the tiny street where I grew up.

It was just the three of us, my mother, my little sister Gapi and me.

My parents had separated so we all shared this cramped one bedroom apartment across the street

from a fire station in the middle of the city. But my mother made it seem grand and full of life

and she do this through cooking, constant non-stop cooking.

For my mother food was life and life was food. If you were eating it meant you're alive.

Food was a kind of love offering and she was a high priestess.

Her ceremonial robes were a house dress and a food smeared apron.

Our lives in Athens revolved around the kitchen table. A Gapi and I would hurry home from school

and even before we'd throw up in the door we'd be coaxed in down the hallway with the smells of

...