WHAT OPRAH KNOWS FOR SURE....

I’m a BIG Oprah fan……I guess its because she formed part of my life and daily routine for so many years.  She really became like an older and oh so much wiser sister to me.  My dad was retrenched at the beginning of my Standard 9 (now grade 10) year.  He found odd jobs in order to bring in an income but mom went to work in a pharmacy to support us.  Suddenly I was a latch key kid.  I would take the bus home in the afternoons, have lunch (open ham, cheese, tomatoes and mayo grilled till golden brown) do a bit of homework and then it would be time for Oprah.

She was always filled with advice and seemed to know the answer to just about every question.  When the O magazine hit our shores I became an avid reader (although I do prefer the USA version).  At the back of the magazine is Oprah’s What I know for sure section and this is my favorite part of the entire mag.

Here are 20 things that Oprah knows for sure:

1. What you put out comes back all the time, no matter what.  (This is my creed)
2. You define your own life.  Don’t let other people write your script
3. Whatever someone did to you in the past, has no power over you in the present.  Only you give it power
4. When people show you who they are, believe them the first time (A lesson from Maya Angelou) LOVE this one!!!
5. Worrying is wasted time.  Use the same energy for doing something about whatever worries you
6. What you believe has more power than what you dream, or wish or hope for.  You become what you believe
7. If the only prayer you ever say is thank you, that will be enough.  (From the German theologian and humanist Meister Eckhart)
8. The happiness you feel is in direct proportion to the love you give
9. Failure is a signpost to turn you in another direction
10. If you make a choice that goes against what everyone else thinks, the world will not fall apart
11. Trust your instincts.  Intuition doesn’t lie
12. Love yourself and then learn to extend that love to other in every encounter
13. Let passion drive your profession
14. Find a way to get paid for doing what you love. Then every paycheck will be a bonus
15. Love doesn’t hurt.  If feels really good
16. Every day brings a chance to start over
17. Being a mother is the hardest job on earth.  Women everywhere must declare it so
18. Doubt means don’t.  Don’t move. Don’t answer. Don’t rush forwards
19. When you don’t know what to do, get still.  The answer will come
20. “Trouble don’t last always”.  (A line for a Negro spiritual, which calls to mind another favorite: this too shall pass)

There is much we can take from what Oprah knows and incorporate it into our own lives.  I really do believe that through her show (her classroom) she has touched the lives of countless women (and men) and that she has made a difference.  


You and I may not have a world stage as a platform from which to make a difference  but each one of us can be the change we long to see in the world!!!