Oprah Winfrey – “Love” that Casts a Widening Pool of Light

Like most Americans, I spent the great part of last Tuesday glued to my television. The inauguration of our new president, Barack Obama, in the freezing temperatures was so many things, but cold simply wasn’t one of them. It was warm – it was inspiring, it was filled with hope, it was emotional. For me, one of the MOST moving moments though, was when Elizabeth Alexander read her poem, “Praise Song for the Day.” I think the reason that this poem moved me so much was that the question she offered – and the answer – were an unexpected twist. The poem started by inviting us to walk down the street, and it moved easily through everyday moments of life. It was just a normal snapshot, and then, it wasn’t. It was that question. One that is so totally in concert with how I live my life and what I’ve been sharing and writing about for the last twenty years.

What Elizabeth Alexander asked at the inauguration of Barack Obama was this:

“What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light.”

I am even moved again, the moment that I write this, because if the mightiest word is LOVE, then we will ALL know that ALL things truly are possible. If the mightiest word is love, then that love – turned INWARD – will truly create the change we are all looking for, one person at a time.

And this idea – this love turned inward – also answers a call I’ve been hearing a lot over the last few weeks. “ Oprah needs to hire you!” is what I keep hearing, through phone calls and emails. From the women who have taken my 12 week course and have worked with me. That statement probably seems silly to those who don’t know me. I mean, who wouldn’t want Oprah to call? Her platform and reputation are so strong that entire careers are made simply on her recommendation or nod of approval.

I have mastered what she is still struggling with – I’m a well known expert in my field, and my unique 20-year philosophy and tools around weight loss have built a great foundation for my career all on their own. So what is it? Why does everyone want to work with Oprah? The truth is, I think it’s that mighty love that Elizabeth Alexander wrote about and shared at the inauguration. Oprah Winfrey literally casts that mighty love and widening pool of light and so do I.

We all know people like this: Those who are not only undaunted by the hardships around them, but who seem uniquely armed to rise above them. Oprah Winfrey takes it one stop further, though, and like Barack Obama, she inspires others to do so also. She inspires others to cast a widening, mighty pool of light.

Like all of us, though, ironically Oprah struggles to turn that love INWARD. Like all of us, her to do list is too long, her responsibilities too many, and like many – her love flows OUTWARD. Many days, that widening pool leaves her in a shadow. And THAT is why she – and we – do not create PERMANENT CHANGE in our lives. Be it weight – or sex – or alcohol – or even success and work – we will not create the balance we need if we do not learn to create a widening pool of light that includes US. We MUST learn to create and to maintain a lifelong self-love and self-care that WILL sustain us EVERY DAY.

So there is our challenge. And I am ready, willing and able to cast my light and empower you with my "power" tools so that you CAN take control of your life, take control of what you weigh and have a healthy relationship to food!

Yes, as President Barack Obama has embraced, we ARE ready for a change – but that change MUST come from inside each of us. I created that change in my own life, and I continue to create it every day, because self-love and self-care are an every-day journey. As dieters and Oprah Winfrey discover over and over, WITHOUT those ingredients, it’s far too easy to reclaim those pounds we let go of.

And yes, friends, I do want Oprah to hire me, not because it would “make” my career – instead, it is because MY widening pool of light has inspired hundreds and thousands of men and women. Sharing the tools that I have learned over twenty years of maintaining a 100-pound weight loss has been my mission and an enormous privilege. And my vision is for these tools to reach millions. It will happen. The world needs my work.

The magic of Oprah? Well THAT is undeniable. But it isn’t what you might think – it isn’t the making or breaking of careers. Oprah has met and affected so much change in the world, and I believe that with my tools to create PERMANENT change, the course of obesity, food addiction, and eating disorders in this country will be shifted.

To YOUR Permanent Change,
Laura Fenamore, CPCC and Body Image Mastery Mentor
www.LauraFenamore.com
Laura@LauraFenamore
Read all my blogs at: http://www.BodyImageMastery.blogspot.com