Learning From Oprah's Class Of A Lifetime

by Cyrus Webb

It goes without saying that I am a huge fan of Oprah Winfrey and the programs she puts forth to help individuals live the life they were destined for. Earlier this year I did a profile on Oprah and how she has impacted so many aspects of our lives, including in her support of our 44th President. The latest creation from the Queen of Daytime Talk is her Life Class series that premiered in October 2011. The goal? To help viewers over the course of five weeks to identify areas in their lives where they could improve, make adjustments and ultimately realize the power we all have within ourselves.

Some dismissed the premise right away, but for me there were times when I found myself not just listening to what Oprah was saying but actually searching myself for ways that I could apply the principles that she was sharing.

I was not alone in believing this way.

Each week I was communicating with individuals from across the country through social media asking them how Oprah's Life Class was affecting them. Here are just a few of the responses I received:


V. McLeod, CEO & Chief Executive Facilitator of www.ConversationswithV.net : "In early Summer I learned about Oprah's Life Class, I immediately knew it would be a strategic, life-enhancing experience for me so I imagine I was one of the first to register. Although many of the guests thus far have challenges in the respective show focus area, I am actually living a rather abundant life ~ yet ~ the Life Class has already inspired and empowered me to an upward shift in my outlook {& inward-look} for even greater success and pervasive life prosperity!

"Each night the classes are so prolific! Especially the Webcast... It is just an overflowing well-spring of wise, insightful, success-building empowerment! The global Facebook family has already formed a community of mutual support which is the bedrock for personal growth, development and maturation. Men and women from around the world are working to, as Oprah so powerfully says, 'become the best, fullest expression of your most authentic self.' "

Lynnis Woods-Mullins, CEO and Founder of Praiseworks says this: "The main take-away I got from the Oprah classes came after the second day. I run a health and wellness company. We were discussing the Oprah classes and suddenly I found myself typing away on what effect these classes had on me thus far. I mean I must have typed for a good thirty minutes straight it was just pouring from me.

"I discovered while I didn't have any deep anger at anyone, I was suffering from a profound hurt that my mother had died before she could see that I would be successful as a wife and mother. My mother was killed by a fire truck on her way to work. I had just seen her two hours before. I had stopped at her house to pick up my clothes from her dryer (mine was not working) with my 5 week old daughter who I was taking to childcare because I had to return to work since my husband wasn't working (I had a total of three girls at the time) my car was on the blitz and my phone had just been turned off. I was 31 and I felt like I was a total failure and was sure that was her observation also.

"Well my Mom was dead two hours later. She never got the chance to see that everything did turn out okay, in fact more than okay. I now have four daughters, went on to get my MBA, divorced my first husband, married my second husband a wonderful guy, had a wonderful career in Corporate America making a six figure income, and started a successful business. For twenty-two years I had been hurt because I could not hear her telling me she was proud of me...after all she is dead. I have taken that hurt with me all these years, killing myself with long hours, both at work and at home trying to be the perfect mom, daughter, wife , sister, and citizen waiting for my mom to tell me she was proud of me. Of course that is never going to happen. I was hurt over something that was never going to happen, something that was basically impossible!

"Oprah's classes helped me to begin the healing process with this truth. I called my father who is still living and we had a long talk and he told me how proud my mother was of me before she died. He told me things I didn't know that she had said to him about my strength, character and potential. I had no idea she felt this way, she may have told me but I always thought that I still wasn't good enough and that I was really going to show her how great I could be. But as it turned out I felt she was taken from me before I could show her how "great"I was capable of being.

"There has been such a 'lifting' since I discovered this. It has given me a sense of peace that my mother will never know what I am doing now but that is alright, because I know what I am doing. I am proud of myself, I am aware of my accomplishments, I know that I have overcome many obstacles, and I know I am the woman my mother raised me to be. That is enough."

Powerful testimonies, aren't they? So what is it about Oprah's ability to connect and draw out such results that continues to benefit individuals like myself and you? Dr. Fran Walfish explains it this way: "Oprah has the gift and capacity to motivate people. She uses herself as an example, almost a template, for sharing personal flaws and embracing oneself - flaws and all! She is the quintessential picture of the least likely person to have made it. Yet, she used her childhood mistreatment and hardships as the gasoline to drive her to the top.

"Everyone can relate to her because all of us carry a history filled with parental errors. No one had perfect parents The sooner we can forgive our parents for the disappointments they brought us the faster we can embrace ourselves. Once we do that, we can accept the limitations in those we love and have intimate relationships with including a partner/spouse and our children. Oprah and her Life Class do this better than anyone else in our American culture."

Didn't sign up for Oprah's Life Class or may have missed some of the lessons. Don't worry. Visit www.oprah.com/own to catch up and begin transforming your life today.