Latest / Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess / Heart and Soul | Episode #405

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Heart and Soul | Episode #405 · Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess

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Hello, and welcome to today's show, Legacy Living, Make your Life Count.
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I'm your host, Doctor Gloria. Gloria Burgess, international leadership expert and
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trusted advisor. Welcome to Legacy Living, Make your Life Count. I'm delighted
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that you joined me. I want to give a big thank you to those
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of you listening today all around the world. I'm delighted and so grateful that
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you tuned in. I sure hope you're enjoying a fabulous day and that you're
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having a fantastic week, because you know what, in the grand song of
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the universe, life is very very short. It's short and sweet and very
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precious. So I hope you're making a difference in your own life, because
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when you do, you also make a difference in someone else's life. Now,
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a lot of folks want to make their life count for something, and
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they ask me, doctor Gloria, how do you do that. Well,
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it's very simple, very simple. You make your life count, day by
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day, step by step, moment by moment, every single day. Three
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sixty five twenty four seven. That's what Legacy Living, Make your Life Count
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is all about. Now you can learn more about Legacy Living, Make your
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Life count by visiting my website, the Gloria Burgess website. That's g l
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O R I A B as in boy, you are g E S S
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dot com Again, that's Gloria Burgess dot com. Or you can visit me
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on Facebook and you can find me on Facebook right here at Facebook dot com.
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Forward slash d R for doctor d R Gloria Burgess pH D forward Slash.
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Today, i want to talk with you about one of my favorite topics,
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daring to wear your soul on the outside, daring to live out loud.
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Now, specifically, I'm going to focus on several folks who have stepped
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up who said, you know what, I want more in my life.
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I want to be more, I want to know more, and I want
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to serve more. I hope these stories about people who have transformed their lives
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will inspire you as they have inspired me. And if you are inspired,
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I will share more about how you too can make that same kind of shift
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in your own life. Later in today's program, I'm going to share some
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resources with you so you can do exactly that, so you can equip yourself
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to make the kind of difference in your life that you will hear about in
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this inspiring story that I want to share with you today. So once again,
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today's focus is dare to wear your soul on the outside. What does
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that mean, Well, it means daring to live out loud. So now
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it's time to sit back and relax. Make yourself a cup of coffee or
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tea, or get yourself a nice tall glass of water, put your feet
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up, relax in your favorite chair, or put your earbuds on and go
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for a walk. Right, and don't forget to take notes, okay,
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because you're going to have to take notes today. You're going to get a
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lot of great information and we're going to have an amazing time. Now,
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before I jump into today's show, I want to take just a moment to
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welcome you. If you're just joining us, I'm your host, doctor Gloria.
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This is legacy living, Make your life count. I'd like to extend
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a very special welcome to those of you who are joining my show, or
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if you're joining Talk Network Radio for the very first time, you're in for
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a real treat. I'm so excited to have you listening in today and I'm
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deeply honored that you've allowed me to be part of your day. So you
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can be inspired by the ideas and resources to make your life count. Today's
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program again is all about daring to wear your soul on the outside. Some
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people say daring to live out loud a very important topic so you can enjoy
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the life you love, a life of joy, and a life of service.
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One of my favorite poets, Muriel Rickaiser, reminds us that the world
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is not made up of Atams. Oh, no, the world is not
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made up of Adams. Well, if it's not made up of Adams,
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then what is it made of Well, I'm so glad you asked right.
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It's made up of stories. Our world is made up of stories. I
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just love that. Now. Let's just think about that for a moment.
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No matter where you live in the world, you hear stories, right.
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You hear stories from the time you're born. You hear stories as a little
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babe in arms, right. Stories you hear around the dinner table or around
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the hearth. We hear stories when we go to school, stories in the
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lunch room, stories when we're ready to leave school, when we're ready to
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graduate and perhaps move on to college. And then when we apply to college,
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they ask us to share stories about why we want to go to college
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and what we hope to accomplish there. And then once we arrive at college,
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we hear stories about the college or the university that we're attending, and
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then more stories as we move through our studies and then into the workplace,
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and there we hear story after story after story. Stories are a very big
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part of our lives, so much so we don't even realize their presence or
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their power in our lives. Sometimes. Did you know that stories are how
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we make meaning, how we make sense of the world. Stories help us
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chart and navigate the many waters of our lives. They help us as we
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move through the many moments, hours, and days of our lives. In
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cultures all over the world, stories are revered as medicine, stories as medicine.
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Now what exactly does that mean. Well, stories are called medicine and
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revered as such because they help to ground us and when we lose our way,
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as we often do in our fast paced, ever evolving world. Stories
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are the medicine that enable us, that help us to come back home.
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Come back home, which means realigning with ourselves and coming back into harmony with
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who we are and whose we are, with who we belong to. Now.
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This is true whether we're talking about an individual, a family, a
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community, a team, or an organization. I was with a client just
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a couple of days ago, and our specific focus was on team building.
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Now, the resources we used to get to team building, to get from
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here to there were stories. In other words, we took a look at
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what needed to be serviced, meaning what stories needed to be serviced and made
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visible to be discussed so that we could become intentional about doing what was necessary
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to become the best team possible. Right, we wanted to put our best
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foot forward, so to speak, to do our best work in serving the
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organization's stakeholders. So once again, stories are are powerful. Medicine. Poet
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and author Mark Nepo reminds us that stories are small doses of what matters,
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and he says, it is the telling that releases the medicine, the telling
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that soothes our pain and and shares our joy. I just love that.
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I'm going to repeat it. It is in the telling of the stories,
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right that releases the medicine, the telling that soothes our pain and shares our
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joy. In the key Swahili language, the words habari gani mean what's the
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news or what's happening now. In this podcast and in several others, I
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will share with you small doses of what's happening now, of what matters in
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the lives of everyday, ordinary people, including some people who are very close
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to me. In fact, I want to share one particular story with you
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today, and this story that I will share breathes the timeless, universal truths
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of what I call the Seven Sacred Promises. They are truths that mentor us
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in ways of being that are older than time, Truths that breathe just beneath
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the surface of our everyday, busy lives. These are the truths that we
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make visible in our life. We can actually draw on them with conscious intention
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to shape our daily choices, actions, and decisions. So what are the
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seven Sacred Promises? They are gratitude, faith, love, vision, integrity,
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creative action, and legacy. Now you hear me talk about all of
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these promises frequently on this podcast in one way or another. Today you will
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hear more about those sacred promises through an inspiring story I'm going to share with
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you. This story is a small dose of what matters, and it's taken
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from some of the big themes in one of my poems, and that poem
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is called song to Myself. Song to Myself. Now, all of the
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stories that I'm going to share with you over the next several weeks, and
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this story in particular, are about people who are just like you and me.
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Now, how is that? Because we are all people who care.
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We care about ourselves, we care about one another, We care about leaving
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the world a little better off than the way we found it. As stewards
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of the future, we dare to wear our souls on the outside, to
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be in right relationship with ourself and to be in right relationship with the people
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around us. As instruments of soul, we sound the way for others in
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our immediate circles and beyond. Did you know that you you are a magnificent
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story And as you live life, you are actually painting. You are painting
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on the canvas of your soul. Now, at the end of my sharing
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these inspiring stories over the next few weeks, I'm going to invite you to
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give voice to your own story, so you too can respond to that important
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question habari gani, what's happening now? And I want to inspire you to
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draw from the deep well spring of your life and the transformative power of your
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own true voice. Until then, I trust that you will be moved by
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these stories of hope, radiance, and celebration as you encounter each individual soul.
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I want you to feel that sweet shimmer of your own story and hear
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the resonance and powerful medicine of your own true voice. I trust that you
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will bask in the joy and inspiration of the stories, allowing them to illuminate
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your sacred life path. I also trust that you will accept the gifts they
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offer so that you can pass these stories on and faithfully serve the people around
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you by lighting the path for someone else. So again, I invite you
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to get cozy, sip on a cup of tea or your favorite coffee,
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and join me by the hearth, join me at the fire to hear the
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good news. I will begin this story, as I will other stories,
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with a brief excerpt from my poem song to Myself. It doesn't matter to
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me what you do or where you are. I want to know who you
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are when the sun goes down, and if you are willing to put everything
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on the line to fulfill your soul's desire. Now, I want you to
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meet someone very near and dear to me, and that person is my sweet
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sister, Vera. My sister is a woman who put everything on the line
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to fulfill her soul's desire, not once, not twice, but many,
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many, many times. In her own words, Vera would say that she
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is blessed beyond measure, for she is a woman who is at the divine
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union of her passion and her calling. Now. This is one of the
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many stories she has shared with me over the years. At this particular time,
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she was in the early years of homeschooling her daughter and launching her private
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practice as a cranial sacral therapist. The seeds she had sown through her daily
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acts of service, expressed through gratitude, faith, love, and the other
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sacred promises, are now providing a harvest of blessings for Vera, her daughter,
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as well as for her family, her clients, her community, and
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the world beyond now. When she started her private practice, Vera's personal vision
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was to begin as a solo practitioner and then over the next few years,
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build a wellness community what I'd like to think of as an ensemble of light
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hearted practitioners, she said, I want to work with other therapists as well
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as doctors, neurosurgeons, nutritionists and other professionals who care deeply about health and
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well being and who really understand that we are designed by God God's grace to
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move toward wholeness, toward health. It will take a few years, and
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that's where I see myself now. When I spoke with Vera to hear about
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what's happening on her journey, I greeted her with habari GANI, Hey,
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what's the news, and as usual, she was beaming with joy. This
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past year has been amazing. It's been a steady stream of miracles, one
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right after the other. This time last year, I was dreaming of building
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a wellness community. Well, today I'm doing it. It's all happening so
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fast now. Don't get me wrong. It didn't happen overnight, right,
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and I believe that it wouldn't have happened at all if I hadn't been intentional
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and one hundred percent committed to my calling and life path. Gloria. I
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have learned the power of gratitude big time, and the power of faith,
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love, vision and all the other promises. I've continued to write my clients
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thank you notes, my notes of gratitude. My clients are now referring family
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members and friends to me. I'm treating people of all ages. This time
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last year, I was praying about how to find clients. Now, most
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days I'm fully booked now. Vera also told me of the difficult decision she
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made to move her office to a different location. She decided to make the
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move to better accommodate the needs of her clients and to support her vision of
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building a wellness community. A few months before my lease was up, I
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knew it. I just knew I had to move to a new location.
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I'm not sure exactly how or when I knew it. Was kind of like
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when I knew I had to leave my engineering job and open my practice and
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homeschool my daughter. Well, when the building owner approached me about my current
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lease, I thought, what do I say that I know I have to
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leave. I knew I needed to be honest with him, so I told
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him about my vision for expanding my practice and creating a wellness community. He
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said, no problem, come see my other building. I want to keep
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you as a tenant. You know me, I jumped for joy and saying
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bonus when I saw the offices on the first level, I thought, hmmm,
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nice, the top of the world offices on the second level were magnificent,
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but they just didn't feel right. But when I saw the office space
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at the basement level, I knew for an absolute fact that this is what
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God had intended for us to have. He planned it long before I arrived.
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There are a series of offices with the central space for reception. Now
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the offices used to be a counseling facility. She said, So there's extra
19:03
insulation in the walls for privacy, and there's a bathroom right next to my
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daughter's homeschool room. It's private, so I don't have to worry about her
19:12
safety. Hey, better location, plenty of free parking, and there are
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plenty of rooms for expansion and growth space for my wellness community practitioners. It's
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perfect. And the building owner is holding the unoccupied offices for me rent free
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until they fill. Well. Things took off from there so rapidly that I
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know it's God. It's divine. Via then told me about another waterfall of
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unexpected blessings. The carpenter who custom built the office and homeschool bookshelves for her
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old office disassembled them, and then reconfigured them for her new space for free.
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How cool is that? Then an acquaintance offered Vera all the interior paints
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she needed for twenty five bucks, and a group of the carpenter's friends painted
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her entire suite of offices in exchange for Vera's donation to a needy charity.
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Now here's a part of Vera's story that allows us to see why she's so
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enthusiastic about and grateful that she responded to her calling to become a cranial sacral
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healer. A five year old boy named Lucas, not his real name,
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of course, came to my office this week for a treatment. He has
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a feeding too because he won't eat. His speech and social skills are at
20:48
a level below what they should be for his age. I think he has
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experienced some kind of deep trauma, perhaps abuse, and most likely some psychological
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damage. His grandmother brought Lucas to my office after talking with her about some
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of his challenges, including his unwillingness to be touched by anyone. I just
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said, flat out, I'm expecting a god sized miracle so that I could
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treat him. I asked Lucas if it would be okay for me to touch
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him. He immediately backed away from me and said, no, no,
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time to go home, Time to go home. I told him I didn't
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need to touch him, and he seemed to calm down a little. I
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had brought a toy train and Lincoln logs for him to play with, so
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we both sat on the floor and played with the toys. But even as
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we played with the toys, Lucas always made sure he was close to the
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door. Finally, I just laid back on the floor and guess what,
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he came right to me with me let me touch him, which led to
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my being able to treat him. Gloria. It was probably the most significant
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treatment I've ever done. The treatment was so calming that Lucas was sleepy at
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the end, but when he stood up he started dancing. Wow, it
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was incredible. In addition to the children I work with, I also like
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to treat the mother's or the care providers so that they can do some of
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this work outside the office with their own children. Well, guess what,
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Lucas's grandmother is coming for her first treatment on Monday. I just love that
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story. Vera's miracles keep flowing from the deep well spring of her saying yes
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to God's legacy for her. For Vera, wearing her soul on the outside
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is as natural as breathing, for she is so robed in that garment.
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Gloria, you know what makes all of this so worthwhile is the difference I
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see in my own daughter. A little over a year ago, I overheard
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her playing with her Barbie dolls. In my daughter's imaginary conversation, Barbie said
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to one of her girlfriend dolls, I'm busy. I can't go out tonight.
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I've got to take a conference call. Hm. Boy, that grabbed
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me by the heartstrings. These days, between every client, Vera and her
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daughter my niece are together. They're either engaged in their homeschooling adventures or they're
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just hanging out together. We always have lunch together. Sometimes we take a
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field trip as part of our lunch. We sing, we tell stories,
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and by helping my daughter with her language lessons, I'm learning what she's learning.
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Hey, I'm in seventh Heaven and my daughter, well, she couldn't
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be happier. Vera shared that just recently, her daughter researched and wrote a
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report for her lesson on international world culture, and in her report she described
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a wonderful creativity school in Italy. Italy. That's right, their school motto
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is nothing without joy. And then her daughter said, hey, mom,
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that sounds like a great model for our school too. Now. I began
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Vera's story with these lines from my poem song to myself. It doesn't matter
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to me what you do or where you work. I want to know who
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you are when the sun goes down, and if you are willing to put
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everything on the line to fulfill your soul's desire, you know who we are
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when the sun goes down makes all the difference, doesn't it. It's who
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we are when no one is looking that really counts, because you know what,
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if we can be true to ourselves and do what's right when we're alone,
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when nobody else is looking, or keeping score or keeping track, we
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can be that very same person when we are in the company of others.
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Well, I certainly hope this story about Vera and her adventures has inspired you.
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I'm going to share my entire poem with you now so that you can
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hear how Vera's story fits in within the overall context of it. Now,
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you know that I coach and consult and speak and work with leaders all the
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time, and I also focus on leadership. I specifically focus on values based
25:53
leadership. My clients love it because very few other leadership coaches and consultants and
26:00
speakers do that. And my clients often ask me to tell them more about
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my life, to share more of my own story with them. I do,
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and I also share this poem with them because my story lives and breathes
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inside of this poem. I simply tell them, if you really want to
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know more about me, just read or listen to this poem. Let me
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share it with you. Song to myself, it doesn't matter to me what
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you do or where you work. I want to know who you are when
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the sun goes down, and if you are willing to put everything on the
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line to fulfill your soul's desire. It doesn't matter to me how much bread
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you can afford to put on your own table. I want to know if
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you will need and wait and bake the bread and share your blessings at somebody
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else's table. I want to know if you can look into the eyes of
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the young woman who sleeps with fear each night, the one who dared to
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walk away from the hands that pummeled her. I want to know if you
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can share her pain. It doesn't matter to me what neighborhood you live in
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or what kind of car you drive. I want to know what drives you,
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what compels you to follow your soul's longing. I want to know what
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pierces your heart, awakens you at night, and inspires you to devote yourself
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to whomever or whatever moves you. I want to know how many times you've
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opened your heart and extended a hand to your homeless sister or brother. I
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want to know if you will sit in the quiet dark hours between midnight and
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dawn listening to another's heart song. It doesn't matter to me how many unspeakable
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secrets you have. I want to know if you will share your secrets to
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liberate your demons so they don't devour you or those you love. I want
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to know if you will risk looking foolish to embrace your bliss. I want
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to know if you will grasp the sleeve of a nameless elder stumbling on his
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way and lead him in from the cold. I want to know if you
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will throw away your cloak and show your heart, if you will dare to
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wear your soul on the outside. It doesn't matter to me how many mountains
29:07
you've climbed or will climb. I want to know if you've fallen down in
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the valley of despair. I want to know if you've scarred your knees on
29:19
the stones of self abandonment. I want to know how long you've been hidden
29:26
in the shadows of hypocrisy, prejudice, addiction, abuse. I want to
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know if you will stop to light a candle and pray with others who will
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surely wander there. It doesn't matter to me what you say you will do
29:49
for others. I want to know if you will act with courage and conviction,
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if you will daily cradle the frail hand of your mother when she no
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longer knows your name. I want to know if you will look into the
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hazel, gray, or ebony eyes of a stranger and say yes, yes,
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to affirm your sister, your brother, yourself. I want to know
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if you will take the time to be still, call the names and pass
30:33
the cup to honor the ancestors who cleared a path and broke new ground for
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you and your children. It doesn't matter to me that you have a past.
30:48
I want to know if you will celebrate your present, if you will
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take a stand, declare yourself, sing, I am boldly and with rejoicing,
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not only to the stars at night, but to anyone anywhere, without
31:08
apologies or regrets. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all take a stand
31:25
and declare ourselves, declare ourselves and sing, I am boldly and with rejoicing,
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declare ourselves by lifting up and celebrating the awesome, incredible power of our
31:37
own stories, our own true voice. Because you know what, that's how
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God made us. That's how God made us. He did not make us
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to cower or to hide out, or to believe what the world would have
31:52
us, believe that we're missing something, that we're insufficient, that were not
31:56
enough. We are children of the most high. We are made to stand
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up and be counted. And when you can stand up and declare yourself,
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guess what, you can help somebody else do the same, because you are
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actually giving them permission. When you make that kind of difference in your own
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life, you can make that kind of difference in somebody else's life too.
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So that's how you do it, That's how it's done day by day,
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step by step, moment by moment, smile by smile, every single day,
32:37
three sixty five, twenty four seven. Now you can learn more about
32:43
the ideas and the story that I just shared with you today. You can
32:47
also find resources to equip and inspire you to make your life count by visiting
32:53
the Gloria Burgess website. That's Gloria Burgess dot com. The Gloria Burgess website.
33:01
And as I've mentioned before, if you love to be inspired, you
33:05
can actually subscribe to my inspirations right on my website. Just scroll down a
33:09
little bit look on the right sidebar until you see the place to add your
33:15
email address to subscribe to my weekly inspirations. It's that simple. Each week
33:22
you'll get a lovely image, a lovely photograph, and a short quotation that
33:25
inspires you. Now, if you missed any part of this week's podcast,
33:31
or last week's show, or any show for that matter, you can listen
33:37
at your convenience. You can even listen on the go. Check us out
33:42
at www Dot talknetwork radio dot com. Forward Slash hosts Forward Slash Legacy Living
33:52
Okay, that's www Dot talknetwork radio dot com. Forward Slash hosts forward Slash
34:00
Legacy Living. If you want to be the change you seek, be sure
34:07
to listen to this podcast again and again and be sure to tell somebody.
34:13
You can find me on iTunes, Audible, Alexa, SoundCloud, iHeart,
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tune In, Spreaker, dot Com, Talk Network Radio, and so many
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other places. You can also find me on LinkedIn or Facebook and again,
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you can find me on Facebook at Facebook dot com forward slash dr for doctor
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Dr Gloria Burgess, pH D. Forward Slash. You can also hear and
34:39
see me by visiting the ted x website and listening to one of my ted
34:45
talks. Just type in my name, Gloria Burgess and find me there.
34:51
Now. Before I close today, I want to thank each of you for
34:53
tuning in to today's show, for allowing me to share a bit about my
34:59
journey with what le Legacy living is all about, not just living and learning,
35:02
but living and learning and serving so that you make a difference in your
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own life and in the lives of others. It's all about being one purpose
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every single day. Three sixty five twenty four seven. Legacy Living is a
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powerful way to make your life count. Once again, I want to thank
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you for joining me for today's show. I'm your host, doctor Gloria Gloria
35:34
Burgess, and this is Legacy Living, Make your Life Count. Please join
35:39
me again next time right here on Talk Network Radio for another show of Legacy
35:45
Living, Make your Life Count. We're here again next week Talk Network Radio.
35:53
Don't just count the days in your life. Make the days in your
35:59
life count. That's what Legacy Living is all about. Have a fantastic day
36:06
and remember make the days in your life count. God bless that's our show
36:24
today. I'm your host, doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess. I hope you'll join
36:31
me again next time. Until then, don't just count the days in your
36:37
life. Make the days in your life count. That's what legacy Living is
36:44
all about. Here's to you. Have a fantastic day and be sure to
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make it a yes kind of day. Remember to celebrate the music of your
36:55
life. Make the day in your life count