Hey everyone, Dr. Maya Shankar here. Welcome to Radio Headspace and to Wednesday. Today we're

going to talk about how we can forge a new path when obstacles get in our way. And I'll

share my personal story of how I found a new passion after a sudden injury ended my

career as a violinist. I learned a really valuable lesson from my mom about how to try to

make opportunities happen when they're not handed to you on a silver platter. Going back

in time to when I was nine years old, I had big dreams of becoming a concert violinist

and my mom who didn't have a lot of exposure to the Western classical music scene wasn't

exactly sure how to help her daughter reach those dreams. She knew one of my big goals

was to apply for the Juilliard School and we were walking by the building one day in

New York and I had my violin with me and my mom said, why don't we just go into the building?

It's like what do you mean just go in? She's like what's the worst thing that can happen?

And I remember thinking security guards, that's one thing mom. But we waltzed into the

building uninvited, unannounced. And my mom struck up a conversation with a mother and

her daughter in the elevator and simply asked them if I could audition for her violin teacher

after her lesson was over. And it was amazing, you know, the kindness of strangers. They

said yes and half an hour later I was playing for this teacher who eventually brought me

on for a summer boot camp and got me into shape to actually pass the Juilliard audition

in the fall. And so what I learned from that experience is sometimes you just have to

jump in and make the cold call or walk into the building.

Years later I had a sudden hand injury after which doctors told me I could never play the

violin again. I just remember feeling really despondent like there was nothing I was going

to find that I loved as much as the violin or was good at. And so I remember having a

...