No more Oprah?!?!?!

Only moments back I have finished watching the final episode of the Oprah show and just HAD to get on my blog and write a few words about it. A few days ago I met a friend for coffee and she handed me over a flash drive with the last 3 episodes (2 being the surprise event her staff planned for her and the final being her simply talking to her audience) and she encouraged me to watch it soon so we could discuss it. Her final episode has moved me so much, I felt I couldn't wait for the discussion with my friend and felt I had to talk about it now. As Oprah says at the start of her final episode, each of us are "guided" to do something in our lives- it doesn't have to be big, and it doesn't have to make us rich or famous. It just makes us feel like THIS is what we're meant to do. For me, that feeling has always come through either creativity or communication.. which is probably what lead me to write a blog as I feel in my own teeny tiny little way, it allows me to do both. I don't know where my writing or other creative outlet will take me in the future, but I know that I feel totally "plugged in" while doing it, and hence I know it's what's good for me as it's what I'm guided to. Either way, I just figured this was the natural outlet for me to give my thoughts on Oprah's show.
If you haven't seen the final episode, I HIGHLY recommend you watch it by finding it online somewhere, or by borrowing it from your friends or however you possibly can. The clip I show above is her last clip and final goodbye, and like millions of people round the world I too thought, "What?! No more Oprah?!"Yes, she isn't dead (everyone on Twitter too seems to be reminding themselves of that fact) but there's something about her way of communication and her spirit that shines through the TV set (or computer/device) and touches you directly. She talks also in this episode about God and coincidences, and echoes a thought I believe to be true- there is no such thing as a coincidence. Given that, it is perhaps not strange then that just this morning, I was having a conversation with my new Personal Trainer, Amir (whom I blogged about a few days back) and we were talking about loving and accepting yourself and your body. He keeps repeating to me about my weight and size, "it is what it is" and just this morning was telling me the importance of being happy with what you are NOW instead of having conditional happiness (I had just said, "I'll be happy if I loose x kilos"). I had argued that while one can wake up in the morning and affirm that they love themselves and what they see in the mirror, there will be people and situations through the day that will negate that and reaffirm to you that the way you are and the way you look IS important in life. It was then my own personal "Aha moment" when I watched the show just now and saw Oprah air clips of hers through the years and watched her weight go drastically up and down, as one thing remained constant over the 25 years her show has been aired- her magic on her audience. She changed lives and touched hearts and changed her own body several times, and if she can come on TV and drop the emotional shackles that bound her to her weight and be comfortable being watched by hundreds of thousands of people every day all over the world, what the hell am I complaining about?!
Oprah has over the years guided thousands of people to lead a better life and is one of the most inspirational people alive today. Madonna says in her 2 part surprise finale, that when people ask her who her role models are, she gives them a long and varied list  for the dead role models category, and in the "alive" list, has but one name- Oprah. As sappy and cliche as this sounds, I truly do echo her sentiments as well. To be able to alter lives and educate thousands of people, get millions to start reading again and become ridiculously famous while doing it is all well and good- to get people to start thinking, to be kind to one another and to learn to not only service but "pay it forward"... all while going through a public metamorphosis herself and struggling to come to terms with her own body, ego and abuse issues while doing it? She's definitely my hero.
Recently I had the honour and privilege or meeting Kevin Spacey while he was visiting Dubai and heard him give a private talk about work he is involved in in promoting the arts and theater. He said that he himself had learned from his mentor that when one rises and reaches levels of success, it's extremely important to "send the elevator back down" which is a thought that I'll never forget. While all of us should question ourselves of the type of life we'd like to live, a few actually do it, and a fewer still actually do something ABOUT it. Watching this episode really got me thinking (as you can tell) and once again I really recommend you listen to it. A few months back I'd posted a YouTube video of The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch along with other powerful speeches.. I think her final episode would definitely belong there, as it's not just advice she's giving people, but a testament to how she's lead 25 years of her life. It's really sad to think, what on earth will the world be like without Oprah?!
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I do apologize for any rambling or grammatical errors in this post.. I forced myself to stay awake and finish it but don't know whether I've been coherent while doing it :)