Comments on: The Wisdom of Oprah http://yourpartnerforchange.com/Lauren/motivation/the-wisdom-of-oprah/ Lauren Miller, Wellness Coach Fri, 25 Nov 2011 21:54:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: admin http://yourpartnerforchange.com/Lauren/motivation/the-wisdom-of-oprah/comment-page-1/#comment-21 admin Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:37:04 +0000 http://yourpartnerforchange.com/Lauren/?p=144#comment-21 Thank you for posting Harriet. I received more comments from this article than any other, but everyone emailed me directly. I would like to share some of the comments, anonymously of course, and where appropriate, my response: "This is so timely and really makes one think. What a great example to use" "I'm still keeping up with you and am thrilled to see your 'smarts' in using this current content for discussion!" "Actually what she also said was food is her drug and she admitted she is a food addict. Why would you put any more pressure on her to solve her problems alone than a heroine addict? Addictions are much more complicated than simply 'making the time to take care of yourself'. It doesn't take long to have a binge. Do you expect any addict, even if they are famous to have to be 'the face of the disease' for the public. I wouldn't. The minute the addict stops working their 'program' for even a minute they will be off the wagon as Oprah said. She didn't let people down. If anything she showed courage to admit her addiction and admit she can't do it herself." My response: I think you raise an excellent point. I do think that Oprah's problems are a food addiction, just as an anorexic has food problems. As she is the "Oprah" I am sure the expectations on her are extremely high, maybe even contributing to her stress and comfort eating. She chooses to be "the face of the disease" for her public. I think in many ways her professional support team may have let her down by not holding her accountable, after all, she's Oprah, and maybe they didn't want to rock the boat and lose that status of being part of Oprah's team. I never said she should solve her problems alone. I said she needs to take responsibility and be accountable. Ultimately YOU are responsible for your own health, and getting support and accountability from others is not shirking your responsibility. We all need support from others and part of that support is accountability. You need to do it on your own AND not by yourself! Thank you for posting Harriet. I received more comments from this article than any other, but everyone emailed me directly. I would like to share some of the comments, anonymously of course, and where appropriate, my response:

“This is so timely and really makes one think. What a great example to use”

“I’m still keeping up with you and am thrilled to see your ’smarts’ in using this current content for discussion!”

“Actually what she also said was food is her drug and she admitted she is a food addict. Why would you put any more pressure on her to solve her problems alone than a heroine addict? Addictions are much more complicated than simply ‘making the time to take care of yourself’. It doesn’t take long to have a binge. Do you expect any addict, even if they are famous to have to be ‘the face of the disease’ for the public. I wouldn’t. The minute the addict stops working their ‘program’ for even a minute they will be off the wagon as Oprah said. She didn’t let people down. If anything she showed courage to admit her addiction and admit she can’t do it herself.”

My response:
I think you raise an excellent point. I do think that Oprah’s problems are a food addiction, just as an anorexic has food problems. As she is the “Oprah” I am sure the expectations on her are extremely high, maybe even contributing to her stress and comfort eating. She chooses to be “the face of the disease” for her public.
I think in many ways her professional support team may have let her down by not holding her accountable, after all, she’s Oprah, and maybe they didn’t want to rock the boat and lose that status of being part of Oprah’s team.
I never said she should solve her problems alone. I said she needs to take responsibility and be accountable. Ultimately YOU are responsible for your own health, and getting support and accountability from others is not shirking your responsibility. We all need support from others and part of that support is accountability. You need to do it on your own AND not by yourself!

]]> By: Harriet Meyerson http://yourpartnerforchange.com/Lauren/motivation/the-wisdom-of-oprah/comment-page-1/#comment-20 Harriet Meyerson Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:40:21 +0000 http://yourpartnerforchange.com/Lauren/?p=144#comment-20 Great article, and its wisdom applies to all of us. We have to put ourselves as our first priority if we are going to impact others. I think it boils down to having enough discipline to create a habit - for both eating wisely and exercising. As we all know, habits are hard to break - so why not create some good ones. Your article has given me motivation to create some good habits of my own. Keep up the good work, Lauren. Harriet Meyerson Great article, and its wisdom applies to all of us.

We have to put ourselves as our first priority if we are going to impact others. I think it boils down to having enough discipline to create a habit – for both eating wisely and exercising. As we all know, habits are hard to break – so why not create some good ones. Your article has given me motivation to create some good habits of my own.

Keep up the good work, Lauren.
Harriet Meyerson

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