Oprah’s Big Mistake

I subscribe to Oprah’s podcast and January 7th, there was a short (3m 36s) video podcast called “Oprah’s Candid Confession – The Real Reason Behind Her 40-Pound Weight Gain”.  I watched with great interest to see what this candid confession was all about.  As I watched, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing!

“And what happened was, um.. life took over… life took over.  I started getting overwhelmed.”

Excuse me – what was that?

I had to back up and listen to it again, but that’s what she said.

I was dumbfounded.  How can Oprah get overwhelmed because “life took over”?

So I kept watching the video clip.  She spoke about insomnia and being exhausted.  “…many a day I didn’t want to come into work. I didn’t want to come into work because I’m so tired.  Too much work, not enough play, not enough time to come down, not enough time to really relax.”

While she is talking, we see footage of Oprah running around back stage, being tended to by hair and makeup people, in meetings, and in the studio for her radio program.  At one point she enters the frame of the camera while walking down a hall.  She has a coat draped over her shoulder, looks at the camera and says: “Done with that – on to my next job.”

At that point, Oprah lost me completely.

Here is one of the wealthiest women in the world talking about being overwhelmed because of ‘work’??  I can only imagine how that comment would have sounded to someone who is working two (or more) jobs in order to try to pay the rent and put food on the table.  Wikipedia indicates that Oprah’s 2008 salary was $385 million dollars.

I found myself inadvertently yelling at the computer: “Oprah! Have you completely lost your mind??” Who is making you go to work each day? Who controls your schedule? You’re Oprah Winfrey for godsake! You can do whatever you want!”

Clearly Oprah was making a HUGE mistake.

Then I calmed down and decided to do some more research. Now, I believe that the video clip was edited to be a sensationalistic teaser, designed to get you to tune in to the Oprah show to hear more.  After reading an article on her website, titled “How Did I Let This Happen Again?“, I discovered that she doesn’t blame “life taking over” for her weight gain.  She has a thyroid condition.  But she also doesn’t blame the weight gain entirely on the thyroid condition.

She writes:

What I’ve learned this year is that my weight issue isn’t about eating less or working out harder, or even about a malfunctioning thyroid. It’s about my life being out of balance, with too much work and not enough play, not enough time to calm down. I let the well run dry.

When I stop and ask myself, “What am I really hungry for?” the answer is always “I’m hungry for balance, I’m hungry to do something other than work.” If you look at your overscheduled routine and realize, like I did, that you’re just going and going and that your work and obligations have become a substitute for life, then you have no one else to blame. Only you can take the reins back.

That’s what I’m doing. These days I’ve put myself back on my own priority list; I try to do at least one hour of exercise five or six days a week. As I work out, eat healthfully, and reorder my life so there’s time to replenish my energy, I continue to do the spiritual and emotional work to conquer this battle once and for all.

If I could offer a word of advice to Oprah, it would be this: “It’s all a choice.“  Especially for someone as powerful as Oprah.  She can choose how much or how little she wants to work.  She can choose to utilize the army of personal trainers, nutritionists, doctors and specialists that she has available to her.  Or she can choose not to.

For her sake, and for the sake of everyone who is looking to her for an example, I sincerely hope that Oprah realizes the power of choosing the life you want.  This is a choice that you make moment by moment, day by day.

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Note: Writing this article has moved me to put my words into action.  Read Choose, Then Act!