{Oprah} A tearful goodbye

(In case you've been living under a rock, the last Oprah show was yesterday after 25 years on television. I've been watching it forever...maybe since it began when I was 11 years old...I don't remember. And I'm kinda sad about it ending.)

(And if you're an Oprah hater, you can just stop reading right now...and go about your day.)

I wasn't going to write this post...but I really really wanted to. After all, my poor friend Kal (and many others) had to hear me frequently say around the lunch table "On Oprah yesterday..." for the last 10 years. At first they made fun and teased me of my obsession (I say "loyalty"). But eventually they started listening to the stories too, how they impacted me, and how inspired I was from this story or that one. I know it has become so cliche. But it never has been to me. She touched a real and raw spot in my heart. Story after story I was inspired and challenged and moved to tears. These are real people with real stories....and testimonies to learn from. And Oprah was in the middle of it all...inspiring, challenging, believing in, and changing how we all live and communicate.

I've always been busy. Kinda crazy busy, I need to slow down, breathe, and remember what matters most busy. That hour of television every day was my moment of "me" time. A time to wind down and get outside of myself and what's going on in my life. It made me less selfish. It inspired me to do better. It inspired me to dream bigger. It inspired me to heal. And forgive. And let go.

Nothing but goodness came from that show, I believe. She inspired people to read. She challenged people to serve. She built houses. She built schools. She challenged people to stop eating, stop spending, stop using, and to start taking care of themselves and their families. She shared her story, her pain, her challenges, and her successes. She dedicated 25 years of her life so that others may have a better life too.

10 Lessons I've learned from Oprah:

1. You have the power to change your life. You are responsible for it.
2. One person really can change the world.
3. Everybody has a calling, and it is up to you to figure out what that call is.
4. Forgiveness is for you, not the person you are forgiving.
5. Education is power.
6. You matter, because you were born.
7. Live a life of intention.
8. Pay it forward. Serve.
9. We are all connected in more ways than not.
10. Leave a legacy. And decide now what it will be.
(Okay, just one more and her last words on the Oprah show) 11. To God be the glory.

These are some of my favorite words from her last show:

What I knew for sure from this experience with you is that we are all called. Everybody has a calling, and your real job in life is to figure out what that is and get about the business of doing it. ...

It lights you up and it lets you know that you are exactly where you’re supposed to be, doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing. And that is what I want for all of you and hope that you will take from this show. To live from the heart of yourself. You have to make a living; I understand that. But you also have to know what sparks the light in you so that you, in your own way, can illuminate the world.

-Oprah | May 26th, 2011

She is still very much alive and LIVING....but has already left one HELL of a legacy! What will yours be?