I set out to really build this universe of interfaith connectedness, where people could see that other people in different parts of the world are very much like them.

Whatever your calling or purpose is, it's your job to feel it. No gift that you have been given was made for yourself.

If something feels right, I do it. If it feels wrong, I don't. It's really very, very simple, but you've got to be willing to take your chances doing stuff that may look crazy to other people - or not doing something that looks right to others but just feels wrong to you.

I would say that during the time that I was 14 and pregnant - I didn't even know what pregnancy was when I got pregnant - I was trying to do everything I could to harm myself. I said to God, "God, if you want me to die, then you're going to have to kill me".

I learned that I could control my life. You are the master of your fate. . . you are the captain of your soul. I took control and went to my space. . . My space. . . the universal energy. . . I tapped into that space of divine flow, where all beings, all things are connected. That space is real. You cannot have a meaningful life without having spiritual self-reflection. Know who you are and why you are here. When you tap into that space, divine flow, that universal energy, you become untouchable in what you are called to do.

The true test of courage is to be afraid and to go ahead and do it anyway - to be scared, is to have your knees knocking, but to walk on in there anyway.

We are each responsible for our own life-no other person can be.