Oprah’s last episode- WOW!! Even if you are skeptical, at least take a look at the lessons Oprah’s last speech leaves us.
I have to admit, I haven’t been watching Oprah for the past couple of months. Maybe I was in denial that Oprah’s reign was ending. Between the stacked up episodes on my PVR and the Paxil, yeah, that might be it.
But yesterday I wanted to watch. No, I needed to watch.
What could be left to say from one of the most powerful women in the world with access to so many brilliant minds?
I’m glad I saw history in the making. It was like a going back to church experience.
Seriously, dude, even if you HATE Oprah, at least glance at the lessons. Some pretty powerful stuff- even by Oprah’s standards.
Someone (probably Oprah herself) was crafting this speech awhile ago.
Oprah’s farewell was a like a speech that you might hear at a graduation ceremony or at the end of movie or in a church or during a president’s address. No, not any president. THAT president. In fact, so much so, I wonder if Oprah and Obama have the same speech coach. Both speakers have the same delivery, pausing, pacing, and conviction.
It makes you want to run out into the street and help somebody for Pete’s sake.
Oprah’s message yesterday packed a powerful punch indeed.
It was as if Oprah at times morphed into the Dalai Lama, then Eckhart Tolle, then Martin Luther King Jr., then Maya Angelou, then Sir Issac Newton ( She even quoted Newton’s law- every action has an opposite reaction) , etc.
Oprah was all about energy yesterday, from her little meditative bow in the beginning to her outright endorsement of energy and thoughts and power, god and karma.
It wasn’t all heavy. Oprah joked with the audience that there was nothing left to give them so not to wait for a car or look under their seat. Darn.
In spite of her power, Oprah can still be self deprecating and that’s why we love her. She showed old footage of her show 25 years ago in Chicago. She said it was VERY obvious that she didn’t have hair and make-up people and stylists earlier on.
What I personally didn’t know was that Oprah said when the show originally aired, it was not in front of a live audience( ie a news show) Oprah without an audience??? What where they thinking? That issue was quickly rectified and the show took off.
In 25 years, 4561 shows, over 30,000 guests, in 150 countries , Oprah never missed a day.
Oprah said she always wanted to be a teacher. She was a teacher. We ( her audience) were her classroom.
Here are 10 Lessons that Oprah left us from the past 25 years.
- Be Yourself.
Start embracing the life that is calling you. You are responsible for your own life. Don’t wait for someone else to save you or ‘complete’ you.
2. Use your life to serve the world.
3. Ask yourself, what is YOUR platform?
What is and who is YOUR circle of influence?
4. Don’t confuse fame with service.
Not everyone has to be famous. Your influence could be one person or the people in your family who you influence everyday.
5.Energy
“What is life? Life is energy. You are responsible for the energy that you bring to yourself and the energy that you bring to others.”
6. Nobody is responsible for your life except you.
“When you know better you do better.” Oprah said it was amazing how many of her guests over the years made bad choices yet blamed everyone but themselves.
7. You are not alone..
Oprah talked about the complexity and diversity of her show. How one day she could be joking with Chris Rock to the next day when she would be talking to soldiers or heroine addicts. Oprah said that diversity made people feel like they were not alone. She said people stood up on national tv and said things on her show that they wouldn’t say to their own family; “I am a drug addict, I’m gay, I beat my wife, I’m an alcoholic, I was sexually abused.”
Oprah said one of the most powerful episodes was when actor/producer Tyler Perry came on her show and admitted that he had been sexually abused. That led to 200 men standing on stage, each holding a picture of when they were young. They were standing up for the little boys in the photo who were molested when they were children.
That led to Oprah to say what one of her biggest regrets of the show was. She said that even though she did 217 shows on the subject, she felt like she was not able to bring enough attention to the sexual seduction, molestation and rape of children. She said it’s that much worse now with the internet than it was 25 years ago when she first publically spoke of her own abuse.
8.Everybody wants to feel validated.
Oprah talked about the power of unworthiness. “There is no need to feel superior to anyone because there is a common thread through the pain. That is unworthiness. Even happy people feel unworthy at times…Everybody wants to be heard. Everybody wants to be seen. Everybody wants to know that they matter.
Oprah then thanked her fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Duncan (who was in the audience) for making her feel like she mattered when she was a kid.
“You are worthy because you are here and you were born. You alone are enough.”
“There is a difference you know between thinking you deserve to be happy and knowing that you are worthy of happiness.”
9. What or who made Oprah successful?
Oprah said her incredible team who worked 17 hours/ a day and Jesus made her successful.
“Nothing but the hand of God made this possible for me. That grace is working every turn of my life. It’s working for you too if you let it in…Be still and know it. You can acknowledge it or not…….I wait and listen for the guidance that is greater than my meager mind…..God is Love….God is life… Your life is always speaking to you First in whispers. If you don’t pay attention to the whispers, they get louder and louder. (Ask yourself) what are the whispers in your life right now and will you hear them?
10. Can I reach Oprah if I’m going through withdrawal?
Yes, you can. Here is Oprah’s email. oprah@oprah.com. Though, I think it’s kind of like Santa’s helpers..haha . Let me know if you get a response. I haven’t written yet. I’ll let the crowds die down!
You can check also see this article on my new website judycroonspeaks.com
