I watched the very last Oprah show today and...I just can't believe that it's been 25 years. I can't even begin to explain what Oprah means to me, the impact she has had on my life and like gazillions of others...how dearly I will miss her. When her show first came on the air, I was a young teen. We had only recently moved to Canada; I was born and raised until I was 12 years old under apartheid (a whole other post on what that experience was like!). Anyways...watching her show through my teens was an anchor in my very painful life. Here are just a few lessons I have learned through the years from Oprah:
* gratitude. I keep a gratitude journal because of her and what blessings they have brought! But more importantly, focusing on gratitude has made me realise how rich and blessed I really am.
* feminism is not a dirty word! Here is a self made woman in every sense of the word and she did it by being herSELF!!!
* she mothered me with her wisdom and encouragement and I hung on for dear life.
* we "are not defined by our mistakes"
* have an open heart...to life; all of it! The heartbreak, pain, joy, success...the whole shebang!
*I am worthy. She taught me that...yes she did. Having come from a very dysfunctional and painfully abusive childhood...she was the very first person to ever say that to me.
But I think the most important thing I have learned from her has been this...when we are truly ourSELVES and live from the heart, when we align our intentions with our actions, when we speak our truths and share our stories and lessons...we empower ourSELVES and others. I hope I can pass these lessons down to Tara through my living them out.
When I watched her farewell show today, I was bawling let me tell you. As Tara said ..."Orr-pah. Aw gone!")