It's the night before the start of the Oprah's The Life You Want Weekend event in Miami and I've just suffered a massive meltdown that included shouting at the top of my lungs, flinging an object down as hard as could in utter frustration, and bawling uncontrollably into the night.
Am I crazy? Maybe a little.
I hadn't had an outburst of emotion of this magnitude in years. I'd been injected with the calmness and perspective yoga brings, and have grown enough to know that just about everything passes so I should keep my cool and ride the wave of whatever internal or external storm was making its way through my life.
BUT only a few months ago, I packed up everything, hugged my friends and family goodbye, and embarked on a new journey to set up my life in a whole new country and pursue my true passions with razor sharp focus and determination.
Along the way, I've been riddled with anxiety, fear, wonder, joy, challenges, and accomplishments - all of which I couldn't have envisaged I would have stumbled on along the way. No doubt, that night all my frustrations and insecurities came to a boiling point - only a day away from me seeing Oprah live and direct.
Now, it's a few days post-Oprah and I have to admit, I learned a lot and have gained some serious clarity about how to actually live the life I long for.
Here are some of Oprah's tidbits that struck a chord with me...
1. The life you want begins by embracing the life you have. Yep! If you take time to be grateful for your current situation and see the blessings in the details each and every day, you'll shift your energy from lacking, wanting, and needing to being filled up, joyful and prosperous. That shift alone will bring things to you that you never thought were possible, simply because you have opened your eyes to seeing your blessings. So, you see more of them. And when you see more blessings, you will notice that there are more, and more and more to see. Good stuff :)
2. Don't get stuck in the pain of birthing something new. And, there WILL be pain, pain, and more pain! But, it's okay. That pain is only part of the process. Just imagine a mother in labor - she suffers some unimaginable pain. Or even constructing a building - that's a tedious job that takes lots of hard work and time. So, why do we think building our dream lives will be easy? It never is. We just have to know that the pain of doing it will subside, and if we keep at it, one day we will reap the fruit of our labor.
3. You become what you believe, not what you want. You have to BELIEVE you can have it! Many of us want things, but don't really believe we can achieve it. Believing is a powerful tool. You have to believe with every fiber of your being. Believing is what makes ordinary people achieve extraordinary things - even when people better equipped, more skilled or better positioned could not achieve them. Why? Because those better equipped just never believed they could, and the believer plodding along know they could do it.
4. Gratitude is the fastest way to change your vibration. Gratitude opens your mind to possibility, to beauty, to the synchronicity of the world, to seeing that you're constantly being helped and supported. With that new perspective you've equipped yourself with the mental capacity to endure challenges and take the necessary steps to living your best life. Why? Because if you walk with gratitude in your heart, you'll walk with confidence and an inner-knowing that you can do it, and you will achieve your dreams.
5. Recognize there's no life without a spiritual life. Being grateful, believing in grace, believing in your self worth, knowing that there's something greater than your self, and believing that your life has meaning - are all ways of honoring and living in spirit. Energy begets energy, so once you invest the time to live in a spiritual place, your life will give you enormous returns on that investment.
Thanks, Oprah!
Photos Courtesy of Harpo Studios, Inc. / George Burns
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