by Sharon O | Jun 6, 2011 | Uncategorized
“Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option” ~ Unknown
I have placed this on my facebook page and I really think it has value in processing.
Sometimes we give and give and then all of a sudden we realize that in the big picture of life, it is better to let go.
Don’t do anymore. Be quiet.
This is a good reminder for us all.
Don’t give more of yourself than is necessary or needed.
Someone will always have a need and sometimes it is better to step back and say ‘no’.
It is not good for me to do this and it is not healthy for my bleeding heart to continue to give in such a way that I am make myself less than what I am.
It is like a draining of emotional and spiritual ’emptiness’.
In a new holy boldness…
I pray for someone who needs to read this little thought for the day.
You are valuable. You are loved. You are special.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you different.
by Sharon O | Jun 5, 2011 | Uncategorized
In the summer our courtyard which used to be just a piece of grass with no personality comes alive with flowers and beauty.
It is too hot most of the afternoon and into some of the evening, but in the early morning it is wonderful to have breakfast or just a cup of coffee and a little conversation.
It is quiet. It is private. It is peaceful. I find it refreshing to sit out and listen to the birds as the wind blows.
My best friend and I had a vision. We kept talking courtyard as a little space for flowers and an extension of the back yard but a bit different than the yard itself.
After the vision became a reality then my husband and my brother in law laid the bricks and stone and we then purchased the trees and plants and created a ‘private’ place where no one can see unless they know it is there.
My dad made me a metal gate that we use to separate the dogs from courtyard. I would prefer they are not allowed to hang out in there, they have a big back yard that is shaded just for them.
The courtyard was a dream and a vision. The flowers will become big and beautiful and we even brought in blueberries this year and a strawberry pot. Integrating flowers and fruit.
This summer we will have lots of fun with children making memories of roasting marshmallows in the fire pit or just listening to the angel fountain as the water bubbles up and down.
Our courtyard is a wonderful gift we gave to ourselves.
I hope you have a ‘special place’ to enjoy with your family and friends summertime is so different than fall and winter. The evenings are often warm enough to sit out way after dark till the night skies are full of stars and darkness.
~ Our courtyard ~
A place of angels and roses and remembering that Life is all about being together.
Our courtyard … A place of relaxation and rest and peace and family.
It holds many memories for us as we move into another summer.
by Sharon O | Jun 4, 2011 | Uncategorized
Today we went to the beach. My place of peace, relaxation, and restoration.
I stood in the wind. It blew my hair and I didn’t care if I had a bad hair day.
It was warm, 75 degrees and so refreshing after weeks of being so sick.
We ate outside at a restaurant and enjoyed chowder, and wine and fresh ‘fish and chips’.
It was a wonderful day to forget bills, phone calls and other assorted things to deal with.
I love the beach.
If I ever had a chance I think I could move there.
My only problem is my delightful grand children.
Grandma will just have to wait and purchase a motor home that way I can have the best of both worlds. My own bed and bathroom and my grandchildren too.
by Sharon O | Jun 2, 2011 | Uncategorized
As Oprah closed her last seasons show she ended with these words:
“I want you to know that what you have to say matters to me. I understand the manifestation of grace and God, so I know that there are no coincidences. There are none. Only divine order here.
I am truly amazed that I, who started out in rural Mississippi in 1954 when the vision for a black girl was limited to being either a maid or a teacher in a segregated school, could end up here.
It is no coincidence that a lonely little girl who felt not a lot of love, (this is when my throat got choked up and I could feel the tears relating so much to her words) even though my parents and my grandparents did the best they could, it is no coincidence that I grew up to feel the genuine kindness, affection, trust and validation from millions of you all all over the world.
From you whose names I will never know, I learned what love is. You and this show have been the great love of my life. Every single day I came down from my makeup room on our Harpo elevator, I would offer a prayer of gratitude for the delight and the privilege of doing this show. Gratitude is the single greatest treasure I will take with me from this experience.
The opportunity to have done this work, to be embraced by all of you who watched, is one of the greatest honors any human being could have. And I thank each of you for allowing me to speak in such a way that, no matter what was happening in your life, you could see the best in yourselves.*
For everything there is a season, we know and our time together on this platform is coming to a close. In a few moments when the final credits roll, I see it not as an ending, but as an extraordinary beginning. One chapter closed. The next chapter beginning for all of us.
I’ve been asked many times during this farewell season, ‘Is ending the show bittersweet?’
Well, I say all sweet. No bitter. And here is why: Many of us have been together for 25 years.
We have hooted and hollered together, had our aha! moments, we ugly-cried together and we did our gratitude journals. So I thank you for all your support and your trust in me. I thank you for sharing this yellow brick road of blessings. And I thank you for tuning in every day. 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.”
You might wonder why I have spent so many ‘days’ writing about Oprah and sharing her last closing time with the viewers. I guess it is because I see in her a ‘winner’~ someone who did not take her ‘lowly’ beginning and leave it to be ‘her lot in life’. She looked beyond what was known at the time and pressed forward into a new and more hopeful direction. She is a self made house hold name although she said, “God had his hand in it all the time.” So many times I remember watching her show and finding the courage after to press forward into my own healing, pressing forward in to what I knew I had to do to get better and be well. As a mom I listened to her and often was encouraged by her even though I was older than her by a few years. I do not worship her nor do I think more highly of her than needed. But I do see her as a ‘up and coming’ Maya Angelou with wisdom and strength clothing her every move. I think she is a real authentic person who is wonderful and I wish her great success in her ‘new direction.’
I think Oprah’s story of survival and success is a wonderful tribute to herself and to all women.
You can better yourself even if you start one day at at time.
She said ‘gratitude is a treasure’ and I believe when we become grateful and thankful for where we have started from and where we have ended.
Then the journey is worth every deep and dark and desolate hole we crawl out of to get well.
If we find wholeness and hope and realize gratitude is our treasure.
Then it is worth every step we have walked to get there.
by Sharon O | May 31, 2011 | Uncategorized
Continuing on the last Oprah show and it’s contents.
“People often ask me, What is the secret of success of the show? How have we lasted 25 years? I non jokingly say,
“My team and Jesus.’ Because nothing but the hand of God has made this possible for me… I know I’ve never been alone,
and you haven’t either. And I know that presence, that flow ~ some people call it grace ~ is working in my life at every single turn. And yours too, if you let it in. It’s closer than your breath, and it is yours for the asking.”
“I have felt the presence of God my whole life. Even when I didn’t have a name for it. I could feel the voice bigger than myself speaking to me, and all of us have that same voice.
Be still and know it. You can acknowledge it or not. You can worship it or not. You can praise it, you can ignore it or you can know it. Know it.
It’s always there speaking to you and waiting for you to hear it in every move, in every decision.
I wait and I listen. I’m sill ~ I wait and listen
for the guidance that’s greater than my meager mind.”
“The only time I’ve ever made mistakes is when I didn’t listen.
So what I know is, God is love and God is life, and your life is always speaking to you.
First in whispers…it’s subtle, those whispers. And if you don’t pay attention to the whispers, it gets louder and louder. It is like getting thumped upside the head, like my grandmother used to do… you don’t pay attention to that, it’s like getting a brick upside your head. You don’t pay attention to that, the whole brick wall falls down. That’s the pattern I’ve seen in my life, and it’s played out over and over and over again on this show.”
“What I’ve gleaned from this show:
Whispers are always messages, and if you don’t hear the message, the message turns into a problem. And if you don’t handle the problem, the problem turns into a crisis. And if you don’t handle the crisis, disaster.
Your life is speaking to you. What is it saying?”
My question for us today is this:
What are those whispers that you have been hearing?
Is God calling you for a bigger purpose?
Is He challenging you for something different?
Is it something you really need to stop and listen to and take heed?
Just a bit more to think about as we soon do closure to the last Oprah show.
by Sharon O | May 30, 2011 | Uncategorized
Returning to the last Oprah Winfrey show again I was listening to her words and remembering the years I have watched her show every afternoon. Remembering how she progressed from a ‘talk show’ to a motivational…
“you can do better in your life” show.
And it was good.
On her last show she was reflecting on her thoughts and feelings and she said, “The show has taught me there is a common thread that runs though all of our pain and all of our suffering, and that is unworthiness. Not feeling worthy enough to own the life you were created for. Even people who believe they deserve to be happy and have nice things often don’t feel worthy once they have them. There is a difference, you know, between thinking you deserve to be happy and knowing you are worthy of happiness.”
Then she told the story of a lady she knew and had worked with for many years who couldn’t grasp her worth no matter how often she was told by others how special she was.
“What I got was we often block our own blessings because we don’t feel inherently good enough or smart enough or pretty enough or worthy enough.”
“The show has taught me you’re worthy because you are born and because you are here. Your being here, your being alive makes worthiness your birthright. You alone are enough.”
“I’ve talked to nearly 30,000 people on this show, and all 30,000 had one thing in common. They all wanted validation. If I could reach through this television and sit on your sofa or sit on a stool in your kitchen right now. I would tell you that every person you ever meet shares that common desire. They want to know:
Do you see me? Do you hear me? Does what I say mean anything to you?”
“Understanding that one principle, that everybody wants to be heard, has allowed me to hold the microphone for you all these years with the least amount of judgement. Now I can’t say I wasn’t judging some days. Some days, I had to judge just a little bit. But it’s helped me to stand and try to do that with an open mind and to do it with an open heart. It has worked for this platform, and I guarantee you it will work for yours. Try it with your children, your husband, your wife, your boss, your friends. Validate them. ‘I see you. I hear you. And what you say matters to me.”
I think this is something good for us to think about…
Who do you need to validate today?
Is it your children or your family?
Maybe perhaps even yourself?
I found it refreshing that in the midst of her wealth and fame and affluent lifestyle. She found a place within her heart and soul to reflect back and say to herself and to others.
“You matter in this world, don’t you ever forget that.”
by Sharon O | May 29, 2011 | Uncategorized
Pressing into more of the last episode of the Oprah show.
She shared some really significant thoughts that will push me into thinking deeper and more passionate about what I want my life to represent.
She said, “You are responsible for the energy that you create for yourself, and you are responsible for the energy that you bring to others.”
When I think of these words I move back into the days working at a pharmacy and the variety of people I met.
Some were my favorites. They would come in with a bounce in their step and a smile on their face and they were full of hope and life and you loved sharing with them even if it was just for a few minutes.
They were contagious in their zest for life.
Then there were the others who would come in like it was doomsday and their job was to rob joy from anyone near them.
They each brought energy.
One kind was compassionate and hopeful, the other was defeated and dreary before they even started.
Remember Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh?
No matter what kind of day it was for him, he was just ‘Ho Hum’ looking for something different.
Oprah said, “In my makeup room I have a sign and it says, ‘Please take responsibility for the energy you bring into this space.”
“It is a simple but powerful lesson. All life is energy and we are transmitting it at every moment. We are all little beaming signals like radio frequencies, and the world is responding in kind.”
I think for today my question would be…
What kind of energy do we want to give to others along our path?
We have each seen both kinds.
Which is more helpful and welcoming?
Which one brings life and which one brings death?
Just a little something for us to think about.
by Sharon O | May 28, 2011 | Uncategorized
The other day as I was watching the last episode of the Oprah show.
I was impressed with her confidence and her complete control of her new destiny.
She appeared to be someone who knows herself well and is not afraid to let others see it.
I was captivated by her words.
The affirmations for women and the message she passed on to each and every one listening.
“No matter who you are… your message matters. Each one of you has your own platform. Do not let the trappings here fool you. Mine is a stage in a studio, yours is wherever you are with your own reach, however small or however large that reach is.” She continues, “Wherever you are, that is your platform, your stage, your circle of influence. That is your talk show, and that is where your power lies. In every way, in every day, you are showing people exactly who you are. You are letting your life speak for you. And when you do that, you will receive in direct proportion to how you give in whatever platform you have.”
As I listened to her I reflected on the questions:
What kind of platform do I want this blog to represent?
What values to I want it to show as others read the words written?
What is the message I want to deliver within every writing?
For today, this is something I am thinking about.
More will come as I process her last ‘goodbye’ speech.
by Sharon O | May 26, 2011 | Uncategorized
Do you ever have those day or weeks that you feel down and discouraged and perhaps questioning hope?
This weekend I was feeling very tired and somewhat frustrated.
On a new medication for a bladder infection.
For those who understand this problem it is not so fun.
Then on Sunday I noticed my face becoming more round.
Again.
By Monday my face looked like a helium balloon with small slanty eyes.
Folks we have been here before.
I headed into the doctor and he was completely baffled and did a bunch of lab tests.
Today my face is very round.
I would show you the picture but I don’t want to scare you.
It looks exactly like the mumps I had two years ago.
Discouraged?
Yes.
Tired?
Yes.
In pain?
Yes.
Trying to find something positive in this.
Lord God give me the strength to press on and learn whatever I am supposed to learn.
Help the doctor get the results back and help me to be calm and perhaps enjoy the sun in the yard as I plant flowers.
Even with a fat face.
I am on two different antibiotics now.
Just ending the antiviral drug for the shingles I had 4 weeks ago.
My body is under a major attack and my immune system needs an overhaul.
If you feel like praying I would welcome it.
(updated news: I am on prednisone now for the swelling)
Tests are non diffinitive waiting for the real ‘mumps’ test results.
by Sharon O | May 23, 2011 | Uncategorized
Well it is so nice to know I can plant the flowers we bought now that the world did not end.
I look forward to creating the colorful look while the birds make their nests preparing for a new family.
Soon the courtyard will be welcoming and inviting us out for dinners on the round table as the little white lights reflect off the fence line and the fountain bubbles and falls with its fresh water sound.
The courtyard has many memories for us, good and bad.
A memorial service for my sisters husband while she was on hospice.
Remembering the songs we sang to the guitar played by the hospice chaplain.
Remembering the family parties and the children playing on trikes and throwing kong’s for Emma my dog.
It won’t be long till we can enjoy strawberries and blueberries freshly picked for a breakfast shared.
The sun is very hot on the back side of our home and the courtyard is something we can enjoy in the evenings or the cool of the early morning.
I welcome the sun after a long season of rain and clouds and windy weather.
Perhaps we can even plant our garden for fresh vegetables are the best.
I am feeling hopeful and although someday I want to see the Lord and Heaven and all that is there waiting for us.
I just wasn’t quite ready this time for it all to end.
