On a recent episode of Making Space with Hoda Kotb, Maria Shriver joined the podcast host to talk about living a meaningful life, sharing the lessons she’s learned during her 69 years of life. Touching on everything from personal growth, motherhood, her divorce, and grief, Shriver spared no details. Keep reading for more information.
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Maria Shriver On Personal Growth
One particularly hard-hitting point Maria made was about the importance of carving your own path through life. She explained how it's always the right choice to take the unworn path, regardless of how bumpy or dark the road is, because it signifies growth. "If you're on a worn path, you're on the wrong path," she said. "You wanna be on a path that's rocky, that's bumpy, that's dark, that you don't know where the hell you're going, because that means it's your path."
I would say that my path has been really bumpy, and it's been freaking dark," she continued. "And it's also been beautiful. And I think that's the thing I learned as I really became older into my fifties, when I got divorced." Shriver was married to actor Arnold Schwarzenegger from 1986 until 2021, though they officially separated in 2011 when Schwarzenegger admitted he had a child with their housekeeper.
Maria Shriver Discusses Her Divorce
Speaking more in depth about her divorce, Shiver added that "It was terrible. But it showed me what I was made of. It showed me that many of the things, starting with when my mother died, I thought I'd never survive. I did. Then my father died. I thought, 'Now I'm an orphan, who will I belong to?' I survived. When my marriage ended, I thought, 'That's it, I'm over, I'm done, I'm nothing, I don't know who I am,' I did. I found a new version of myself, and that's what is so wonderful about life."
Towards the end of the episode, Shriver encouraged listeners to, if they're feeling a little stagnant or feeling like they need a change, to take the path less traveled. To take a risk and step towards unfamiliarity, because you never know what kind of person you'll meet inside yourself.
