A good friend of mine went to “An Evening with Oprah,” I think I was one of the few women in this town who wasn’t there. I like Oprah, I mean it’s hard to not like someone who does so much good with her fortune and tries to make something good out of everything she does. She seems to have purpose and focus for humanity. However, she’s not God and in fairness to Oprah, I don’t believe she thinks she’s God. Society today is constantly looking for heroes and usually the heroes are the one’s who are successful and have money. Isn’t that a sad commentary on society? Tickets for Oprah were between $100.00 and $395.00 per seat; my friend paid $150.00. Why were those tickets so expensive to see a woman who wants to help all of humanity? I’m guessing because Oprah can command the money; she’s treated like a rock star. Having said that, I really have no idea if she is donating some of that money back to her charities or not and I would hope she is doing just that. Really the average woman who is at home with a mortgage, children and working her butt off to make ends meet, can’t afford to go and spend “an evening with Oprah” at that price. Now let’s just say Oprah is not the big rock star Oprah we know, let’s just say she is a minister in a little church somewhere in the United States and she wants to have a series of talks to share with the community her abuse experiences, baby out-of-wedlock experience , Jesus experiences and her love of her job experience . Who would show and pay between $200.00 – $395.00 per seat – not one person. Same woman, same stories and experiences, but as a Minister she’s not commanding a net income of $165 million per year, therefore, society doesn’t look at her in the same way – a hero! Lance Armstrong – need I say more. He was the big heavy hero winning 7 Tour de France, beating cancer and we find out he lied and cheated through it all. Obviously people in that world knew he was cheating – just ask the guy who did not come in at the top of his game, but he worked his ass off to complete the race in the time that he did – not one person or media outlet was looking at that guy, all eyes were on Lance. In a way society created Lance, we only look at the winners and the winners will do whatever it takes to get there – including cheating and then we chastise them for the behaviour. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not excusing the behaviour because at the end of the day you’ve got to look at yourself and say – I did all I could do and I was successful, without cheating, without lying and did this on my own terms. Lance couldn’t say that at the end of the day, but the guy who could didn’t win – maybe our eyes should be on that guy.
Back to Oprah – I think she’s come into her own and she has spent a tremendous amount of time trying to justify why she is where she is and finding ways to give back to society. We’ve all watched her make the transformation from talk show host to a dynamic successful business woman, successful daytime show, network owner and philanthropist. Below is a video of Oprah talking about tough times and surrendering to God. I like what she has to say and I find her to be sincere. As much as I would have liked to have seen Oprah, I don’t think I would have spent the money. I’m finding my own heroes in life, my children, my husband, my family and friends. I invest in people with my time and I’m paid back with laughs, hugs and friendships that sustain me in good times and in bad times. There is one person who can wear the hero hat and I know she would have never considered herself a hero; that person’s name was Mother Teresa. She could have commanded twice what Oprah was asking but never would she have asked for money for herself, she only asked us to spread the love of Jesus and she did so in the most humble, loving way – dedicating her life to the poorest of the poor and lived simply by giving back to people in society who society forgot – a real hero!
Each of us is merely a small instrument; all of us, after accomplishing our mission, will disappear” – Mother Teresa
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