“Start embracing the life that is calling you and use your life to serve the world.” — Oprah
Those words sing to you, don’t they? They make you say YES, please, YES!
They certainly do me. (Thanks to everyone, including Goddess Leoni, who sent them my way.)
Now the question is: How do you live Oprah’s good advice?
I bring you 5 easy steps. I’m not kidding about easy. These are easy as in do them in a spirit of ease. Which brings us to step number 1.
1. Look for the ways you already doing it! See the ways you listened to the call of your life today, the ways you served today. Pause and bow to yourself. (Do not skip this step.) The biggest thing that blocks us from living Oprah’s advice from her final show is thinking that calling and service is a big-ding-dang-do. It is not.
2. Once you see the tiny glimpses or smote forehead “I’m doing it!” moments, build on them. Your natural strengths are showing up right here right now – do a little more of what is calling you, especially the things that make you quiver and quake. Turn up the volume one notch. Jillian, who loves massage, applied for an internship to learn to give massage to cancer patients undergoing chemo. Everybody at the Savor & Serve Cafe cheered her on.
3. Gently but firmly hush the voices that hector “Like that will work! Ha!” once you do take a step. Or as Jillian said after being awarded her internship,
“To the voice inside of me that is complaining that she did not get the internship on her time, I say hush. That I may not find babysitting, I say hush. That having the kids in school will make the internship more of a scramble, hush. I am practicing saying YES instead.
4. Every time you think “If I only had her brains/body/energy/money/connections, then I could live my calling and serve” bless that person. Bless their good fortune and hard work, and then remind yourself, “If I can see it in her, I got it in me.” Then consider what you will do – one thing right now – to be that which you covet. It might be think a different way, be more generous, stand up taller, put down the cookie – but live it now.
5. Don’t confuse any of this with your essential goodness. You are love. You are here to love. That love likes to play so all this calling and service stuff, it’s supposed to be fun. Put down the life purpose cudgel and pick up the “How much fun would it be to listen to my desire to serve today?” and go do it.
Deep thanks Oprah for having me on your show and helping me reach more people. I bow to your good fortune, hard work and amazing service.
