Live your best life.

Tonight I had the great priviledge to see Oprah live. It was nothing short of magical, inspiring, profound, and refreshing. Although I was rows and rows and stairs away.. and Oprah appeared like a little purple star (she wore a purple sequin dress) with a LOT of hair from my view, she made me feel like I was right there, on stage with her. 

Oprah is one of those people (in my books anyway) that you could never even fathom being in the same room with because you've looked up to them for so long. That and because she's... well, Oprah. 

But being there, and hearing her wise and inspiring words, was an absolute blessing and a night that I will never forget. 

Once Oprah gave her speech, she was joined by CBC's George Strombo where he interviewed her until the end of the show. Their energy together was brilliant and he asked all of the right questions as well as entertained us. I was so proud to see a Canadian talent up there with the broadcasting Queen. I met George back in January and I can honestly say he's such a great guy- honest and genuine. 

photo by George Stromboulopoulos @strombo

As you can imagine, she gave the audience some very good advice. As you can tell from the title, the theme of the night was 'Live your best life'. It's almost impossible to remember every word she said or ponder every thought she expressed, but there were some lessons that I left with and plan on keeping forever:

YOU MATTER

You do. She stressed that no matter where you come from and what happens to you, you have a great power by just being. By 'being', we have the opportunity to find our purpose, live out our calling, and truly live our best life. Oprah shared the fact that when she was born, no one was excited for her arrival. Her parents hadn't planned her and she felt as though she was unwanted. She also shared that the only night her parents were together was the night she was conceived. She soon learned that it was a miracle that she was given the gift of life. She told us that we are not our disease, divorce, parents, mistakes, etc. Those things don't dictate the person we seek to become. 

ENERGY 

She talked a lot about energy. She taught us that we are all energy. I learned that the energy you put in to something (could be anything) is the energy that you will get out of it. The energy you release into the universe dictates how the universe will respond to you. She said not to think of obstacles as "How will I get through this?" and/or "When will I catch a break?" but as "What is the next right decision?" 

LUCK

Oprah says there's no such thing as luck. "Luck" is just preparedness meeting opportunity. She said that you need to prepare yourself and be the best you, so that when an opportunity comes, you are ready. 

WHISPERS

She said that most problems begin as whispers. And we often don't hear them until we take the time to stop, listen, and recognize when we hear them. 

She used this analogy to explain: 

When the whispers aren't heard, they turn into throwing pebbles (problems), and the pebbles turn to a brick to the head (crisis) and the brick to the head turns to the brick wall falling down on us (breakdown/disaster). It was a great analogy for recognizing problems before they become difficult to manage. 

INTENTIONS

She also spoke about intentions. We don't get in fights with other people because they lied to us or forgot our birthday, we get into fights because of how the action was intendded and how it ultimately made us feel. She said it's important that if you're in an argument, to fight about what you're actually fighting about. Say: "you missed my birthday and that hurt my feelings because it made me feel like you don't care about me." Not: "you missed my birthday- you're a $@#$%!" Talk about why you're feelings were hurt and how the relationship can be mended.