If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
No matter what you're struggling through -- no matter the pain or anguish -- you can go inside behind your mind and observe it happening to you. Whatever it is, it isn't you. You are the observer. When you come to know this, you realize that even though the canvas of your life is painted with daily experiences, behaviors, reactions, and emotions, you're the one controlling the brush.
Each year, we pledge to transform ourselves into a super human, a being that is part Bill Gates mogul, part Michelle Obama arms, part Halle Berry stunner and part Oprah. Each year we crash and burn. Why?
After we get to a certain age, can we make life-altering changes? Can we evolve into more evolved human beings? I mean, can we improve?
After surviving an unparalleled disaster that rocked us to our core (Lindsay Lohan in Liz & Dick), we pulled together as a nation of Thelmas and Louises, ready to boldly drive off the fiscal cliff together.
Over and over after I ended the show and began the next phase of my life, the media tried to put me in a box labeled "struggling TV network." Even though I read only a few articles, one in particular cut me to the quick: "OPRAH WINFREY ISN'T QUITE HOLDING HER OWN." I had always prided myself on just the opposite.
At the end of each school year in South Africa -- which is right now -- I teach a class to the 12th graders at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. It's my last chance before they move out into the world of college and beyond to try and cram everything I wish someone had told me into a week's curriculum.
I didn't think it would hurt, to be rejected by a magazine. But, at age 54, I guess I should have learned that it takes a while to recover from unrequited love.
Forgiveness doesn't mean you condone the behavior or, in any way, make a wrong right. It just means you give yourself permission to release from your past -- and step forward with the mud of resentment cleared from your wings.
For years I've advocated keeping a gratitude journal, writing down five things every day that brought pleasure and gratefulness. I did so without fail as a part of my daily spiritual practice for at least a decade. Then life got busier. I let my schedule run me instead of me running it. I journaled only sporadically and stopped taking note of the simplest things that brought me comfort and joy.
It's very serious, but like two high school girls with a romantic interest in the same skinny hipster in the senior class, Israel and Hamas are sending bitchy taunts to each other over Twitter. I don't know whether to LOL or cry.
These three steps will help you navigate negative comments on the Internet, but what's most important is to practice raising the positive energy around you. Where there is darkness, we need to bring more light.
Sitting next to Oprah for this hour-long interview, I was able to understand the magnitude of her mission. Learn more about my experience in this video.
By the time they graduate, after two years of intensive study and in-depth classes in entrepreneurship, African Leadership Academy pupils are prepared to make a lasting impact in Africa.
My life is better when I get still regularly. Call it meditation or call it quiet time -- doesn't matter. The benefits are the same. If you stay with the practice, it's like developing spiritual muscle. I promise you will become less stressed, more focused.
Even when the sky is filled with dark gray clouds, we can be assured that above those clouds the sun is out. And like a airplane we must keep climbing and ascending until we break through the difficulty.
Is the dominance of white, male voters in this country finally history?
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