Brown's Bountiful Beautiful Bubbly Blabberings

Recently I’ve been catching up on some episodes of Oprah’s “LifeClass” on OWN I’ve saved in my DVR and have been loving each one. I watched one of her live Friday episodes that she simultaneously puts online w/guest Iyanla Vanzant (one of my faves), and they were taking questions/comments from guests and discussing them. 

One audience member, Rita, had been struggling with inner/outer beauty and what people may or may not be thinking about her. Towards the end of her segment, Iyanla was talking to her and Rita said something really profound that Oprah noticed but couldn’t spend too much time on. It really stuck with me:

“I don’t any longer think that it’s possible that any other people can hurt me. They’re just giving me their observation, and I’m giving it meaning. And so I get to choose what that meaning is.” -Rita

Now think about that. It’s simple, yet so deep and smart. Have you ever thought about how much value you give to what observations people make to you or about you? It’s really silly, because only you can decide how you feel and where to put your time and energy. You have the power when it comes to yourself and other people. 

People can say whatever they want to you, but only you have to power to be affected by it or allow it to mean something to you. You have the power to let in whatever you want. Doesn’t that just feel great when you think about it?

Have you ever encountered someone that was having a really bad day so instead of getting mad, you felt sorry for them and said “oh, he’s just having a bad day…” and just let it go? You can do that in every situation, because you always have the power to give “meaning” as Rita said, to people’s opinions and observations.

Having power over what you allow into your thoughts doesn’t mean you’re in denial, it just means you have a guard at the gate. A guard who double checks and allows you to make a decision about a feeling or opinion thats trying to enter in. You can chose to use an opinion constructively, or not at all. 

Thanks for reading my thoughts on this. I didn’t really know where I was going when I started this post, but I know I felt compelled to write about it. I just wanted to share it because I think that it could really change your day-to-day dealings with people if you consider what Rita said. Only you give it all meaning and let it affect you. So set your guard up at the gate and choose to be powerful! 

:-) KJB

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/oprahs-lifeclass/The-Most-Inspirational-Quotes-from-Our-Live-Webcasts_1#ixzz1ij4gX0me