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For me, last weekend was a weekend of mixed emotions. Two things happened that will permanently change my life. One was that I saw Oprah not in person, at least not yet but I went with my niece to the Life You Want Tour in Miami. In addition, Ladee, one of my dogs, had to go since she was in critical condition.
I intended to write this post to inspire you and to share with you everything I learned over the weekend, but I didn’t feel ready to write about my dog’s passing at the same time. If I wanted to be truthful with you guys, I couldn’t write about one without the other. I accepted my niece’s invitation to attend the Life You Want Tour!
The Life You Want Tour is made to put you in a position to get, well, you know, The Life You Want. I assumed it would be a motivational conference, and I knew I would learn a lot from it, but I misjudged the experience.
I thought, “Yellow is the color of Gratitude,” as Oprah stepped out in her stunning gold dress and looked out at thousands of women. I knew that gratitude was the key to a life beyond your wildest dreams and that she had a mastery level on it, so I was eager to learn how to reach a deeper level of gratitude in order to change my life.
One of my goals was to develop greater openness so that I could accept and give more. The other was to reflect on those aspects of my life that required help.
So there she was in the spotlight, the stage glowing yellow, surrounded by brilliant lights. She shone with a love-filled brightness. She talked to us about life, her struggles, and how each setback had served as a springboard for her triumph.
Every heartbreak leads to success. She had an understanding of secrets that most people struggle with their entire lives. She was incredibly perceptive and derived meaning from everything. She had money. She was abundant in love, wisdom, joy, generosity, forgivingness, patience, and kindness, in addition to the obvious.
These are the things that really count in life, and I heard her describe how she had used these things to get by in her own words. That’s when I understood this wonderful woman’s success was no accident. Yes, this woman had a strong faith.
First lesson: Always give.
I discovered that Oprah’s life didn’t start to take off until she used what she had and where she was to help others. Her life took on a new meaning when she made helping others her top goal, and her career started to advance and prosper. Every one of us can contribute something to helping others.
The entire globe is anticipating our contributions. One person at a time, if we look long enough, we will find something we can do to improve this planet. Just take a look at your hands, spread them, and let the gifts flow from them.
Second lesson: I Hear You. You Have Value. “You Matter,”
Everyone wants to feel important. Saying “I Hear You” to the other person is the quickest method to end a debate. You are significant. Sometimes while I’m looking away from my kid, Jordan, he murmurs, “You Matter. ” I turn around to see that he’s waiting for a reply, unaware that he’s speaking to me.
I stop him, look him in the eye, and say, “What you have to say is important to me, so make sure I can hear you and know you’re talking to me, ok? He used to say, “Never mind,” when I asked him to repeat himself. So, what exactly did you say? After that, he always starts to talk. Communication is crucial.
Let There Be Light is the very first command spoken in our history. We must speak up and express what we truly want and intend. Also, we must be sincere in our words. Listen. When someone is speaking to you, turn your attention away from your phone and toward them. Never yawn or nod off when someone is speaking to you.
Do not interrupt someone who is speaking or plan your next move while they are still talking. Give them the gift of your whole attention, please.
Third lesson: Life is constantly speaking to us
By that time, it nearly always costs us something. “Life talks to us in a whisper, then a stone, then a brick.” Life constantly communicates its abundance to us, and when we pay attention, we may act in the most advantageous and correct manner for ourselves.
We learn the hard way, which is not my favorite form of learning when we postpone since it demonstrates a lack of self-worth in that area. If you concur, raise your hand! Spend some time in meditation each morning.
Get quiet and establish a connection with Our Creator’s abundance, love, and goodwill. He is the Universe and is present everywhere. Daily meditation gives your day structure and opens you up to an infinite world of possibilities. Breakthroughs, tranquility, joy, original ideas, and success in a variety of ways are inevitable.
We are Co-Creating Our Lives, Lesson #4
The fact that Oprah frequently asks herself, “What AM I Creating Right Now? ” struck me as one thing that stuck out. What do I want to achieve? She always has her objective in mind. She is aware that, at its core, we are co-creators of our lives with our Divine Creator and that we must ensure that love, not fear, drives our choices. Wasn’t that a big one? This is something I’ve started to do and teach my children, and it’s altering my life. I feel more in control and take my time to make judgments that will benefit everyone.
Lesson #5: Everything that occurred for you, occurred because of you.
That was the advice she received from her mentor, Maya Angelou, at a particularly difficult point in her life. Nothing can harm us if we use the experiences we’ve had as a guide to a route that constantly inspires us to rethink how we think and live.
Many things were realized, many tears were shed, and many lessons were learned. Although I still have a long way to go, I felt powerful and well-equipped with so much knowledge and direction for my life. In many ways, I was on the right route, but I also had a lot of room to develop, get better, give, forgive, and accept.
So I came back from that weekend buzzing, feeling like I’d been kissed from heaven, only to discover our dog, my husband’s faithful and devoted friend, gasping for air. She had been oddly irritable lately, and before we could get her to the vet, she developed a sudden illness.
After seeking a second and third opinion and deciding to have her have surgery because we could see that she was starting to regain strength, Ladee ultimately decided to go her own way and passed away that evening.
Animals are a gift, and there are countless lessons we can learn from them. And you could tell as soon as she entered the room that she was going to make you feel right at home.
She showed a lot of affection even to complete strangers. I first realized the meaning of Namaste when I visited her a few days before she passed away. I could see how precious her brief life was and how very lucky we were to have her in our lives. She was clinging on after our Creator poured LIFE into her small body. I respected her for who she was and for the love she showed us.
I discovered that you don’t always express your hurt in a way that the other person can comprehend. To hear between the lines, however, sometimes requires a loving, attentive heart. I’m getting better at listening.
I’m aware that as the days pass, the grief of her death will lessen, but I’ll never forget her. Now I grin at how she always did things her way, Ladee’s Way: the way she’d jolt out of deep sleep and barrel down the stairs barking and racing whenever we’d come in or how elegantly lay on her side, or how she didn’t like walking on grass but loved lying only on the carpet, or how she’d pick out only the meaty portions in her dry dog food, or tried to get our attention if we took too long eating in the kitchen, or 9 of her years were given to us. I miss her and am confident that she is aware of our love for her.
I gained a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of thankfulness that weekend. I was aware that a life of gratitude is the life you want. It is a life of constantly focusing on the positive, even when anything “appears” to be wrong because terrible is merely a label that only WE have the authority to apply. I discovered that every challenge we experience stems from our inability to appreciate its benefits.
We immediately change our perspective once we begin to hunt for interest in it. By shifting our PERSPECTIVE, we are able to break free from the “bad” feelings that tie us. Then, our EXPECTATIONS/HOPE are altered, and we start to “see” a way where none previously existed.
Gratitude is the first step toward recreating loving sentiments, which frees FAITH and gives us the strength to break free from the fight. Gratitude is a force that becomes stronger and gains momentum until the scales tip and then Bam! You can now see the breakthrough with your own eyes; it is there.
My hope and prayer is that you will have the insight to see that saying “thank you” could put the life you want within reach.
