Audrey A. Thomas, author of the inspirational book Your Eyes Can’t See My Heart (Xulon Publishing 2015), was featured on the most recent episode of America Tonight’s “Author’s Corner” with Kate Delaney.
This book is a remarkable story about personal transformation, intellectual development, and maintaining a positive outlook on life. It discusses the author’s thoughts and personal experience about how one must not judge a person on appearance alone, but rather they must look deeper into who that person truly is based on that individual’s life experience. According to Audrey, “…you can’t tell a person’s journey just by looking at them.” She explains how we can’t tell who that person really is and what their intentions are by speaking to them, not until a person is called on to choose what they want.
“No one ever really knows what they are going to do or what the outcome would be,” she added.
Knowing Audrey, and how she came to succeed in life.
“People don’t always realize what it takes to break through, and sometimes the struggles that you come to face in becoming an attorney, and it wasn’t easy getting the position?” Kate asked.
“Absolutely not. It wasn’t easy at all,” Audrey answered. “Everyone in their own journey has their own adversities that they had to overcome, and for me, it was how I came to settle.” She was an immigrant at the age of 10, but as an illegal alien. She became pregnant at the age of 15, had her first child, and dropped out of high school. She had so many things that people would consider failure, but to her have proven to be her greatest asset and my legacy for her children.
To Audrey, the struggles she had to face were a blessing in disguise. It was how she grew as a better person and also how she came to succeed in life. “Make your weak heart strong and your circumstances certain,” she exclaimed. Take her circumstances as an example: she had a child at the age of 15, which others perceived as a failure and burden. She was only able to become an attorney because of the love and support of her entire community and her child as an inspiration.
She wanted to have a job that her child could be proud of. She wanted to accomplish something great, so she took her GED and went to business school. She had a professor who encouraged her to go to college. When she got to college, she was also encouraged to go to law school, which encouraged her to go to graduate school and further her dream of becoming an attorney.
“The child was not an impediment, but rather an inspiration,” she told Kate.
What led Audrey to write “Your Eyes Can’t See My Heart”?
“I wrote the story because, as an attorney, I find that one of the impediments of people’s success is the belief that they can’t. You know I have young men tell me that, ‘I could never be a lawyer because I dropped out of high school,’” Audrey said. She was heartbroken when she heard those words, but that didn’t stop her from becoming an attorney “…because a lot of times, people’s perception is the only impediment to people’s success whether it may be race, sexuality or gender.”
Audrey explains how one must choose to overcome whatever people are trying to use to bring others down. “If you don’t make that choice, it doesn’t matter what anyone else can or can’t do for success,” she said.
How did Audrey come up with the title?
“So, for me, it was after hearing so many people say they can’t, I had to explain to them why they can. Then I thought the title “Your Eyes Can’t See My Heart” would be fitting because it helps you conceptualize it,” she said.
“What is the message you want to convey to the people,” Kate asked.
“I will tell people to support their children, to be loving, to be kind, and most of all, to find community, not one or two commonalities, find a community to be a part of,” Audrey answered.
Moreover, she also wants to encourage people to ask for help and ignore the negative forces that are running around inside their head because mostly the adversity that we are complaining about is self-conflicted.
“Why do you think it’s hard for others to ask for help?” Kate asked.
“Because in schools, it was how we were taught. We are taught that individuality is something we should live with,” Audrey said. She explains that it is a part of early education, and that what distinguishes a person is how they express their individuality, and that they are capable of doing it independently.
“Because if we achieve something we had helped from is something to be judged or looked down upon, and that’s wrong,” she exclaimed. “There is nothing wrong with having help.”
Why should you read this inspirational book?
This book instills in readers a sense of self-confidence and a positive outlook on life. “There is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to, but there are countless reasons why you should be able to,” said Audrey.
Audrey A. Thomas’s “Your Eyes Can’t See My Heart” is available at Amazon.