Having Oprah withdrawals? Well fret no more. Seems Oprah hasn’t really disappeared after all, she just moved from ABC to her OWN network. She’s taking charge & making OWN her own by putting herself front & center of much of the programming we’re now seeing on her recently launched OWN network. Perhaps retiring & having lots of time off was overrated or Oprah realized that in order to make her network a success, the Oprah signature needed to be fully ingrained on OWN to get people to tune in. Either way, I’m happy, as I’m sure are many of her other countless devotees who followed her day in & day out for the past 25 years.
Thankfully, Oprah’s wisdom & guidance lives on in her series ‘Lifeclass’ as well as other shows to come next year. Her Premiere season of ‘Lifeclass’ recently ended, but hopefully the wisdom & insights she shared throughout this series will live on & help us all live better lives. Oprah digs deep into her past from the Oprah show vault & shares with viewers valuable life lessons which we could all take away from past guests & hopefully in some way improve & make our lives a little or a lot better. Oprah hopes that these lessons will ‘awaken something inside’ & help your lives be better. Oprah always likes to quote friend & author Maya Angelou, ‘when you know better, you do better.’ This quote also happens to be one of the important life lessons taught in ‘Lifeclass' as outlined below. Hopefully all of the following lessons highlighted in the Premiere season of Oprah’s ‘Lifeclass’ will help all of us to be a little bit better in all areas of our lives:
LESSON ONE: THE FALSE POWER OF THE EGO-In this premiere episode Oprah opened up about the infamous episode where she lost beaucoup lbs & pulled a wagon onstage with the fat she had lost. We didn’t know it as viewers, however Oprah admits this whole show was her ego talking. The lesson is that the ego can take away one’s personal power. Oprah said that you can’t begin to love yourself unless you know who you are separate from your ego. She pointed out that what keeps us from being all that we are meant to be is our ego & that ego can block success. She emphasized that we are all constantly being bombarded all the time by our modern day culture telling us we are not enough. This would be the ego talking. We are enough just by being who we are & to further drive this point home, Oprah featured author Eckhart Tolle on her post show webcast, who talked at length about this topic pointing out the difference between ego vs true self.
LESSON TWO: LETTING GO OF ANGER-This episode featured relationship expert Iyanla Vanzant & author Terry McMillan, who teach us how to let go of the past & live in the present because holding onto anger can set you back from living the life you are meant to live. What Oprah knows for sure is that ‘if you allow your past to define your present, you never actually get to live the life you were meant to live because you are always holding onto what was & defining yourself by what was or what should have been or what could have been.
LESSON THREE: HAVING FAITH IN YOURSELF-This show emphasized that you become what you believe. It highlighted one of my fave episodes of Oprah where actor & comedian, Jim Carrey shared how he once wrote himself a check, way before he was ever famous for 10 million dollars. Ralph Lauren was also shared an inspiring story of how he started his label at a time where no one believed in him but himself. The lesson here is to not allow others to drown out your own consciousness, your inner light or G-d & to believe in yourself. The message was it’s never too late to become who you were meant to be. There’s a reason why were are all here & it’s up to each of us to find out what that reason is.
LESSON FOUR: THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE-It featured Ellen DeGeneres and how she set herself free when she revealed that she was gay.
LESSON FIVE: JOY RISING-The giveaway episodes ie the infamous car giveaway were a way for Oprah to teach that you never know what the day will bring & anything can happen at any given moment. Excitement & blessing can enter ones life at any moment in time. In this particular car giveaway, the audience was filled with those who needed cars. Every day dream big & believe in the impossible.
LESSON SIX: EVERYONE HAS A CALLING--HONORING & FOLLOWING YOUR CALLING FUELS YOUR SOUL-It’s never too late to live your best life
LESSON SEVEN: AGING GRACEFULLY— Past episodes included Cybil Shepard, Jamie Lee Curtis & Ali McGraw & the lesson here is that developing an inner self is the key to aging gracefully.
LESSON EIGHT: WHEN YOU KNOW BETTER YOU DO BETTER-Oprah’s always quoting her friend & mentor, author Maya Angelou who said ‘when you know better, you do better.’ This is to free up anyone who’s ever made a mistake to not be so hard on oneself. Just change from the moment you learn, & moving forward.
LESSON NINE: YOU’RE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR LIFE-Oprah shares her own life as an example showing how as a little girl, she was the one in charge of steering her own destiny. Paula Dean is also featured on this show & shares her story of how she turned her dream into a reality. The lesson here is that if you want to move forward in yourlife , you have to make it happen for yourself.
LESSON TEN: JOY RISING-Fridays were joy rising moments & this episode featured the flash mob scene in Chicago to the Black Eyes Peas song ‘I Gotta Feelin’ for Season 24’s kick-off. Oprah’s wish here was to bring joy into people’s lives. This flash mob scene was a wow moment, especially for this Chicago girl seeing Michigan Avenue transformed into an unforgettable Oprah moment.
LESSON ELEVEN: YOUR LIFE SPEAKS TO YOU IN A WHISPER-Your real job is to pay attention to your life. Life is always speaking to you in whispers. ‘Listen to your life as it whispers to you first so it does not have to knock you up side the head with a brick’ so you get the message.
LESSON TWELVE: HOLDING ON TO THE PAST-The sooner you let go of the past, the sooner you can get on with the now.
LESSON THIRTEEN: WHEN PEOPLE SHOW YOU WHO THEY REALLY ARE BELIEVE THEM-This is one of Oprah’s fave life lessons. As Maya Angelou explains, people know themselves much better than you do. That's why it's important to stop expecting them to be something other than who they are. Oprah was very candid about her past relationships where she would wait by the phone or not be treated properly. She learned the hard way that if a man shows you he’s untrustworthy believe him the first time. We’ve all been there..seeing Oprah having gone through it too will help many stop in their tracks and move on to loving relationships which are waiting for all who will not accept anything but the best.
LESSON FOURTEEN: WHAT ANIMALS CAN TEACH US- We learn about the healing power of unconditional love from animals through Oprah’s own dogs, as well as a miracle horse who gives his blind owner a new lease on life. Who can forget Christian the lion reuniting with his owners in the famous YouTube video seen around the world, who’s owner was a previous Oprah guest.
LESSON FIFTEEN: JOY RISING & The Power of gratitude-The Australia giveaway showed once more how something magical can happen at any time in one’s life. Allow yourself to get to a space of a good feeling vs focusing on what you don’t have & that will bring more good into your life. Whatever gets your attention, even if just being grateful for your breath, will increase the energy of gratitude. That’s how joy rises.
LESSON SIXTEEN: FOLLOWING YOUR GUT-Listening to your own gut can make you safer in your world. Examples of this are shown from stories of people who listened to their intuition to tell them something wasn’t right.
LESSON SEVENTEEN: YOU CAN RISE FROM THE ASHES OF YOUR LIFE-Examples of how people re-examined & moved on with their lives after tragedy struck.
LESSON EIGHTEEN: DO YOUR EYES LIGHT UP WHEN YOUR CHILD WALKS IN THE ROOM?The lesson here is that everyone just wants to be appreciated or validated. Toni Morrison explains, that making others feel that way is essential for raising children and for having strong relationships. We learn how to make people feel like they matter.
LESSON NINETEEN: STEP OUT OF THE BOX-Lesson is that when you do things you don’t ordinarily do it opens up space in your life.
LESSON TWENTY: JOY RISING SURPRISE-When we experience pure joy, we live in a way that allows us to leave little pieces of light and love wherever we tread
LESSON TWENTY ONE: LOVE DOESN’T HURT-Robin Givens shares her story about her relationship with Mike Tyson teaching us how to recognize love and not settle for less than.
LESSON TWENTY TWO: PLAGUE OF AMERICA-Living a financial lie-Suze Orman gives her always helpful financial advice &the importance of respecting money.. If you are living a financial lie you’ll never realize your full potential. You are living a lie when you are attached to things you think will bring you worth.
LESSON TWENTY-THREE: SLOW DOWN-The importance of being present in your life. We are reminded of the importance of slowing down & living more consciously through examples of past guests & the devastating consequences of what can happen when we rush through life. When we are truly present we recognize the ordinary moments are life’s greatest gifts.
LESSON TWENTY-FOUR: NEWTON’S THIRD LAW OF MOTION-Oprah lives by this law, one of her favorites. She says ‘it’s the golden rule on steroids.’ It goes one step further than what goes around comes around. ‘Whatever you do is already done the moment you do it.’ For every action there is an equal & opposite reaction. Oprah says the moment you get this, if you haven’t already, your whole life changes. The energy you are putting out is coming back all the time whether you recognize it or not. If you can be conscious of that then it will change the way you operate your entire life
LESSON TWENTY-FIVE: YOU’VE ALWAYS HAD THE POWER-This is Oprah’s all time fave. Only you have the power to make the changes in your life to make it better. Your life is a reflection of the way you think. We see examples from The Wizard of Oz, as well as a real life story of a woman who turned her dreams into reality. The deepest courage we can exercise is continuing to believe in our dreams until we make them come true. In the Wizard of OZ Glinda tells Dorothy ‘she always had the power’ & the reason she didn’t tell Dorothy before was because ‘she wouldn’t have believed me.’ It’s up to each of us to tap into our own power. Feel for what your soul wants & believes. If you believe it, you can achieve it. As Oprah said ‘our magic ruby slippers are right here inside ourselves, right in our own heart.’
If you’d like to see any of the above classes & really get the lesson, you can view any of them on at following link on OWN’s site:
http://www.oprah.com/oprahs-lifeclass/oprahs-lifeclass.html
Another season of “Lifeclass’ is slated to launch next Spring. Also catch Oprah’s new primetime series where she leaves the studio behind & gets up close & personal out on the field with newsmakers, celebrities, leaders & families coming up in January called ‘Oprah’s Next Chapter.’ For a sneak peek of the series, visit: http://www.oprah.com/own/Sneak-Peek-Oprahs-Next-Chapter
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