OPRAH'S GREATEST LESSSON

If you were fortunate enough to catch the last episode of "Oprah" she makes a point of saying the single greatest thing she learned over her 25 years on television was gratitude. This isn't a lesson that just showed up one day with a ground-breaking guest or as the subject of a book in her famous book club. This was something that showed up almost everyday over the thousands of shows she did.

When Oprah made the fundamental decision in the 80's that her show could help people transform themselves, regardless of their situation, she knew that only gratitude could accomplish the internal changes she sought. Gratitude allows you to look at every situation as "perfect", as part of the lessons you are here to learn. Oprah cited dozens of guests that were burned beyond recognition, sexually abused, cheated on, lied to, survived deadly diseases, watched their loved ones murdered or killed and every type of adversity imaginable.

The common thread among all her guests, was that at some point, every person saw the importance their situation brought to the personal growth of their lives. In almost every case, people were grateful to survive, grateful to see life from a different perspective and grateful to experience each magical day. Gratitude brought all these people out of "victim" mentality and gave them the power to shape their own destiny.

Oprah says that gratitude is the doorway to a new consciousness. A consciousness that allows us to see that the quality of our lives really depends on the quality of our thoughts.

"Whatever you think about, you bring about," she said.