Over 5,000 women and a few good men traveled from around the nation, around the world, and across town to join in the 10-year anniversary celebration for O The Oprah Magazine in New York City last weekend.
Best friends, mothers and daughters, stay-at-home moms, business owners, working women, and everyone in between happily met and become friends for the weekend. Some were celebrating 50th birthdays. Others were treating themselves to that “bucket list” experience they had been dreaming of for years. Others were taking in that too long delayed gal-pal weekend, or perhaps celebrating their first Mother’s Day away from their children in a most magnificent, one-of-a-kind way.
Each with reasons all her own, we all came to celebrate, laugh, cry, and express gratitude to Oprah for the role she has played as we’ve journeyed forward to do the best we can with our lives and careers.
The Live Your Best Life mission set at the launch of O The Oprah Magazine has stayed true all along. Millions of lives have been touched, shaped, and made better with every advice column, every book club recommendation, and every coveted treasure fortunate to earn a place on that influential and oh-so-revered O List.
What Oprah has built over the last 10 years is a tribe to which millions belong and from which we all find pearls of inspiration to journey toward the purposeful, meaningful lives we desire, deserve and design. I know that I am not alone in declaring that we are all returning home very glad to have made the journey and much enriched by the experience.
Oprah’s influence has been deeply felt in my life and work. I, like so many others, am proud to have overcome personal and professional odds to create a life and a business filled with purpose, passion, and possibility.
Those of us who wanted to say “thank you” to Oprah for the impact she has contributed to their lives had that opportunity this weekend. Those who wanted to take stock over their own progress in living their own best lives over the last decade took the opportunity to do so, each in her own way.
As I waited in line to take my seat at the workshops, participate in the Sunday 5K walk to benefit a host of 
worthy charities, and take in the other displays and exhibits, it was inspiring to meet people and to see, hear, and celebrate with them as they shared their accomplishments, forgave their failures, and gave themselves permission to anticipate their future opportunities. It was very special to share the experience with Lori Richardson and Kammie Lisenby, who are featured in these photos taken at the opening ceremony on Saturday morning and the 5K walk on Sunday.
Now, the question for each and every one of us is what is next?
Oprah would likely say that it is time to dream a bigger dream, listen to the whispers, and step more boldly toward what is truly possible.
What I know for sure is that my passion to serve others is fierce. To play a role in guiding others to learn how to tell their own stories so they can walk taller, proceed more boldly in the pursuit of their purpose, and accomplish more of what they want in their lives and businesses is the most satisfying, rewarding work that I do. And, the stories I help others tell will continue to make an impact as I gain the courage to tell stories in an authentic voice that speaks my own truth.
While I don’t know for sure the exact shape things will take in my own life and work, I can tell you that over the last ten years, Oprah has taught me a lot about how to ask the right questions. Like millions of others on the journey to create my own best life, my story is still unfolding. I look to the future with high hopes, high expectations, and the belief that great things are possible for those who believe in unlimited possibilities and are willing to do the work to bring them to life.
I’ll close this post with a quote Oprah shared during her magnificent one-woman-show at Radio City Music Hall and on page 256 of her ten-year anniversary magazine.
“I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.”
— Oprah Winfrey
