Oprah Winfrey has been an important role model for oppressed women around the world, breaking down many invisible barriers, shaping cultural trends and promoting various liberal causes. Her talk shows and books have focused on several issues faced by women.
Of all the great things that she has done today, it’s tough to believe that she did not experience automatic success in life. Just like the rest of us, Oprah had to learn the difference between a career and a calling before her passion and purpose could take off.
“Your real job in life is to figure out what you’re called to do and you use a job until you can figure out what your calling is – because a job is necessary to survive, “Winfrey says on her network, “In my early days, I had a job, until I could figure out what gave my life its purpose and meaning.”
“The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”
She goes on to explain that her job as a news anchor paid USD 22,000/year, and she was just 22 years old then. “At the time, it felt like a financial dream come true – just to make my age.”
But then, she was demoted for having “the wrong colour and the wrong size.” She was pulled from the news and put on a talk show because the network didn’t’ know what else to do with her.
“My very first interview was with the Cravel ice cream man and Benny, one of the characters from All My Children,” she reveals. “I finished that show and I felt like, ‘this is what I am supposed to do.’ All these years, I had been misplaced in news. I’d be out on stories and I’d be crying with the people – I felt I was exploiting the people with news – and the moment I did that talk show, I felt like I could be myself.”
Your passion fuels you
But, how do you know you’ve found your calling? Well, for one, you’ll know what you’re supposed to do by how it feels. Oprah goes on to explain that since that turning point in her career, she has never had a problem with her energy levels – she went from being an exhausted, burnt out news anchor to a TV host bursting with life and energy.
“If you can find what your passion is, you never get tired, or if you do get tired, you’re fuelled by the energy of your work.”
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Money doesn’t bring happiness
According to Oprah, finding your passion also means loving what you do so much that you “would do it for nothing and find a way just to do it.”
While the now-billionaire certainly doesn’t have to worry about doing her life’s calling for free. She has fought hard to get to where she is today – but her resilience and unwavering belief in her passion has taken her incredibly far.
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