I’m Going To See Oprah!

I’m heading to Seattle with “My Gayle” Jana, or maybe I’m her Gail – we’ve been each other’s life witness since we were seven so we’ve both been each other’s “Gayle” at times and this IS one of those times!!!

We’re off to see Oprah for The Life You Want Weekend™ event!

I’ve loved Oprah for decades. There have been many a lonely time in my life where the words she spoke seemed to be spoken directly to me.  I clung to them like a life line. Her words gave me hope when I was hopeless to find it myself.  Did it feel like she was speaking directly to you too?

In the darkness of my marriage, feeling invisible, alone and walking on eggshells around my husband’s exhaustive moods, quick anger and consuming neediness I heard Oprah say “Love isn’t supposed to hurt.” It was an Aha! moment for me. It brought into sharp focus that what I was calling “love” was hurting the hell out of me. It was the beginning of looking at my relationship with my eyes open.

Years later in the midst of the drama that accompanied my divorce as people I considered friends and family turned on me, passing judgment, condemning me and criticizing me to my face and behind my back Oprah shared one of her favorite quotes from Maya Angelou “When people show you who they are, believe them.” This became my guiding anthem to knowing who I could trust and who I couldn’t and to NOT take it personal.

After divorce and before Life Coaching I was stuck for a time in the anger stage of the grieving process (Gayle…umm Jana can attest to that!). I was enraged that I had wasted fourteen years of my life, my youth and all the happiest ‘firsts’ of life; marriage, having and parenting children to end up divorced. I was pissed about it! This was not the way my life was supposed to work out. Then I heard Oprah say “Whatever your situation is right now, you have played a major role in creating it.” This snapped me right out of my victimness. I had been thinking divorce had happened to me and it made me feel powerless. Realizing I played a role, as difficult as it was to admit helped me to see I hadn’t been a helpless victim and that if I played a part then, then I played an even bigger part now, because now my life truly was my own. It put me back on the road to healing and taking responsibility for my life.

It was through Oprah that I was first introduced to my mentor Martha Beck Ph.D. In November 2001 I wrote a quote in my journal from Martha Beck’s monthly column for O, Oprah Magazine titled Embracing Your Inner Brat (Bitch). The quote was “You must display your differences to make a difference.” At the time I could not identify why this line so spoke to me. The young woman I was then was not ready to display her differences nor could I see far enough ahead to know that one day, my differences would lead me to becoming a Life Coach trained by no other than Martha Beck herself. Now I understand fully why these words spoke to me because through openly sharing my “differences”, struggles, falters, triumphs and wins I am able to do my real work in the world making a difference in the lives of women and girls who want more for themselves.

I feel like Oprah has been a reliable friend to me – maybe you feel the same.  I know she will have brilliant wisdom to share in Seattle at her The Life You Want Weekend™ and I will be bringing it all back to share with you in upcoming posts. So stay tuned. Make sure you have signed up here on my NEW JodiScottCoaching.com website so you will get the Oprah & Friends Wisdom I will be sharing from The Life You Want Weekend™ in upcoming posts!

Know a friend who wants in on what Oprah had to share? Send them this article so they can sign up to get my Three Simple Breakthrough Strategies to Getting What You Want in Life and Love and be included in the Oprah & Friends Wisdom I will be sharing from The Life You Want Weekend™ in upcoming posts!

And now I would love to know what is YOUR favorite Oprah quote, moment or story? Please share it in the comments below.