Dr. Robin Smith is hungry. Not literally -- her hunger is a figurative yearning for... something. As a licensed psychologist and regular guest on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Dr. Robin knew how to provide valuable guidance and counsel to others. But when it came to her own emptiness, she simply couldn't pinpoint a solution.
Then, after experiencing a year of devastating personal setbacks -- including a serious car accident that left her unable to work, financial hardships, a home burglary and the death of her beloved dog -- Dr. Robin took inventory of her life and began to reflect on how she could get back on track. In a sit-down with Oprah on "Super Soul Sunday," Dr. Robin shared her revelation about the root of her hunger and how this acknowledgement helped her on the path to true fulfillment.
What Dr. Robin realized is that she had been hungry for something deeper than external success. "I was hungry for myself. I was hungry for a self that a job, a man, money -- that nothing could give me and that nothing could take away," Dr. Robin says. "I was hungry for a self that was so intact, that was so unified, that all of those hardships would not be able to rob me of myself."
In her book, Hungry, Dr. Robin says hunger is about the craving to reclaim and embrace your true identity. Though she now understands that the key to doing this is to become awakened and fully conscious about your feelings, thoughts and actions, Dr. Robin admits that she originally only had a surface understanding of her emptiness.
"I knew that there were pieces of me that longed for something more," she tells Oprah. "I said, 'Well, I'm just broken.' I was broken, my spirit was broken, my money was broken, my dreams were broken -- everything was broken. I was hungry for a life that was unbroken."
Even while she was feeling broken, Dr. Robin continued counseling others with much success. On the show, she explains to Oprah how she was able to do so and reveals the "come to Jesus" moment that helped her move forward.
"The shackles that I was living in are gone," Dr. Robin says.
"Super Soul Sunday" airs Sundays at 11 a.m. ET on OWN.
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