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 Huffington 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 combine immersive first-person stories, breathtaking music and mindfulness prompts

so that we may see our lives reflected back to us in other people's stories, and that can lead to improvements

in our own inner lives. From Wait What, this is meditative story. I'm Rohan, and I'll be your

guide.

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-bed-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 If you were eating, it meant you're alive.

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

...