Aha!
Today, I'd like to share a story of a woman who is the definition of an American success story. She is known internationally by her first name, Oprah. Yes, Oprah Winfrey.
She created an Emmy award-winning (47) television show in Chicago that would last 25 years, catapulting her to international fame. Ophrah closed the chapter on her on-stage persona in 2011. However, In 2008, Oprah and Discovery Communications announced plans to create OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, the first and only network named for, and inspired by, a single iconic leader.
So, how does one achieve such success in life, let alone in television? We are all aware of Oprah's journey, but I want to approach it from a different point of view. I contend that she found her growth when she started a segment in the 90s called Remembering your spirit.
Winfrey's Spirituality is recognizing her connection to the energy of all creation. She knows she is a part of it—and is always a part of it. Whatever label or word we use to describe "it" doesn't matter.
Who am I?
It is important to note that Spirituality is not religion. You can be spiritual and not have a religious context. The opposite is true, too: You can be very religious with no spiritual dimension, just doctrine.
Oprah states that "knowing this has made all the difference. It allows me to live fearlessly. And to make manifest the purpose of my creation. And I will be bold enough to say I know it's the greatest discovery of life: to recognize that you're more than your body and mind."
Remember who You Are
As the segment, remembering your spirit, ran in the show, Winfrey received ridicule in the press and got pushback from some viewers who weren't willing to accept the message that there's more to our lives than our five senses reveal. However, she was not deterred from her message or work. She doubled down and created Oprah magazine to amplify the message to help people find their best life, a life that acknowledges mind, body, and spirit.
In March 2008, Oprah.com launched the first international interactive webinar series in conjunction with the Book Club selection A New Earth. The groundbreaking live multimedia sessions taught by Oprah and author Eckhart Tolle have been downloaded or streamed more than 35 million times. Oprah.com users could capture their thoughts and new perspectives for each chapter within their online workbook.
According to Oprah, allowing the truth of who you are—your spiritual self—to rule your life means you stop the struggle and learn to move with the flow of your life. Eckhart says in A New Earth, "There are three words that convey the secret of the art of living, the secret of all success and happiness: One With Life. Being one with life is being one with Now. You then realize that you don't live your life, but life lives you. Life is the dancer, and you are the dance." In Winfrey's words, "to be in the world but not of it."
No Easy Way
Oprah did not learn and teach this information until she was in her 50s. In other words, she had lived a life that did not align with the idea she'd be a billionaire and international star. The fact is, she grew up with many challenges most would never have recovered from.
For example, Oprah was born in the small rural town of Kosciusko, Mississippi. After a horrific adolescence growing up in a farming community, where she was sexually abused by several male relatives and friends of her mother, she moved to Nashville to live with her father, a barber and businessman.
Her father was a strict man; however, he did teach Oprah the value of education and hard work. As a result of living with a neglectful mother and being raised by a supportive but unemotional father, Winfrey knew she would not be a mother because she felt she had not been mothered well. I find this ironic statement coming from a woman who may have served as a surrogate mother for millions of women and men.
Thoughts turn into Reality
When Winfrey turned 14, she was pregnant due to being raped by her uncle. Consequently, this led her to consider suicide. Oprah says she had a miscarriage, which her father called a "second chance" for her. Winfrey says she took those words as a mantra throughout her life that helped her reach the level of success she's at today, including establishing her network. "I was, in many ways, saved by that, and I decided that I was going to turn it around."
When Oprah was 22 years old, she accepted a job to work in TV news at WJZ in Baltimore. After seven and a half months at the anchor desk, she was demoted and told to host their morning show. Oprah hosted the talk show "People are Talking" on WJZ for six years. That, and her challenging experience in the newsroom, would forever change the course of her career.
At the beginning of 1984, a first-year general manager of ABC's Chicago station, WLS-TV, named Dennis Swanson, offered Oprah the job of running the morning talk show A.M. Chicago, a show that had lost its time slot to The Phil Donahue Show. Winfrey knew it would be a stretch for a young woman to make a run at the show, but she also understood that not many black men or women would have this chance. As a result, she took on the challenge and made an early decision not to go after A or B-list talent. Instead, she stayed true to her belief that her show would be about ordinary people, just like her viewers. The first show's title was, How to Marry the Man/Woman of Your Choice.
I can, I will
By February 1985, Winfrey was pulling double the ratings of Donahue. Swanson also suggested that Roger King of King World Productions meet Oprah, which led to her syndicated talk show. The Oprah Winfrey Show, which the ABC owned-and-operated stations carried at launch, grew into one of television's most successful syndicated programs ever. Oprah became the first female black billionaire with a net worth of $1 billion in 2003, according to Forbes. Currently, she is worth about $2.9 billion.
Oprah knew she was coming to the completion of her show in 2008 but decided to continue working until 2011. It would be her 25th year, but above all, it would give her time to share a few more powerful stories of black culture and tales of extraordinary citizens. Furthermore, she would have a chance to interview U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, her first-ever interview with a sitting president and First Lady. They talked about the challenges of parenting at the White House, the strength of their relationship, and their concern for the country's future.
Still Going
Oprah's final show was on Wednesday, May 25, 2011. It was preceded by a two-part farewell special recorded in Chicago in front of an audience of 13,000. Unlike her first shows, she spoke with A list guests like Aretha Franklin, Tom Cruise, Stevie Wonder, Patti LaBelle, Beyoncé, Tom Hanks, Maria Shriver, Will Smith, and Madonna.
Winfrey's final message was this: I've been asked often during this farewell season, 'Is ending the show bittersweet?' Well, I say all sweet—no bitter. Many of us have been together for 25 years. We have hooted and hollered together, had our aha! moments, ugly-cried together, and did our gratitude journals. So I thank you all for your support and your trust in me. I thank you for sharing this yellow brick road of blessings. I thank you for tuning in daily along with your mothers and sisters and daughters, your partners, gay and otherwise, your friends, and all the husbands who got coaxed into watching Oprah. And I thank you for being as much of a sweet inspiration for me as I've tried to be for you. I won't say goodbye. I'll just say...until we meet again. To God be the glory.
It's always Been You
In conclusion, you are not the story you've told all these years. Furthermore, you are not always the thoughts you think. You are the creator of your reality and must muster the courage to imagine great things for yourself. Oprah is one story in a million. I'm not talking about fame and fortune; I'm talking about a girl who came out of great contrast and made a life by being with her experiences but not allowing them to stop her.
Live your best life!
