Latest / Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess / Waterfalls of Blessings | Episode #455
Transcript
- 0:21Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to today's show, Legacy Living, Make your
- 0:27Speaker 1: Life Count. I'm your host, Doctor Gloria. Gloria Burgess, international
- 0:34Speaker 1: leadership expert and trusted advisor. Welcome to Legacy Living, Make
- 0:42Speaker 1: your Life Count. I'm delighted that you joined me. I
- 0:47Speaker 1: want to give a big thank you to those of
- 0:49Speaker 1: you listening today all around the world. I'm delighted and
- 0:53Speaker 1: so grateful that you tuned in. I sure hope you're
- 0:57Speaker 1: enjoying a fabulous day and that you're having a fantastic week,
- 1:02Speaker 1: because you know what, in the grand song of the universe,
- 1:06Speaker 1: life is very very short. It's short and sweet and
- 1:11Speaker 1: very precious. So I hope you're making a difference in
- 1:15Speaker 1: your own life, because when you do, you also make
- 1:20Speaker 1: a difference in someone else's life. Now, a lot of
- 1:24Speaker 1: folks want to make their life count for something, and
- 1:28Speaker 1: they ask me, doctor Gloria, how do you do that. Well,
- 1:32Speaker 1: it's very simple, very simple. You make your life count,
- 1:38Speaker 1: day by day, step by step, moment by moment, every
- 1:42Speaker 1: single day. Three sixty five twenty four seven. That's what
- 1:47Speaker 1: Legacy Living, Make your Life Count is all about. Now
- 1:52Speaker 1: you can learn more about Legacy Living, Make your Life
- 1:54Speaker 1: count by visiting my website, the Gloria Burgess website. That's
- 2:00Speaker 1: g l O R I A B as in boy,
- 2:05Speaker 1: you are g E S S dot com Again, that's
- 2:10Speaker 1: Gloria Burgess dot com. Or you can visit me on
- 2:13Speaker 1: Facebook and you can find me on Facebook right here
- 2:17Speaker 1: at Facebook dot com. Forward slash d R for doctor
- 2:22Speaker 1: d R Gloria Burgess pH D forward Slash. Today, i
- 2:32Speaker 1: want to talk with you about one of my favorite topics,
- 2:36Speaker 1: daring to wear your soul on the outside, daring to
- 2:41Speaker 1: live out loud. Now, specifically, I'm going to focus on
- 2:45Speaker 1: several folks who have stepped up who said, you know what,
- 2:50Speaker 1: I want more in my life. I want to be more,
- 2:54Speaker 1: I want to know more, and I want to serve more.
- 2:59Speaker 1: I hope these stories about people who have transformed their
- 3:03Speaker 1: lives will inspire you as they have inspired me. And
- 3:09Speaker 1: if you are inspired, I will share more about how
- 3:13Speaker 1: you too can make that same kind of shift in
- 3:16Speaker 1: your own life. Later in today's program, I'm going to
- 3:20Speaker 1: share some resources with you so you can do exactly that,
- 3:25Speaker 1: so you can equip yourself to make the kind of
- 3:27Speaker 1: difference in your life that you will hear about in
- 3:31Speaker 1: this inspiring story that I want to share with you today.
- 3:34Speaker 1: So once again, today's focus is dare to wear your
- 3:39Speaker 1: soul on the outside. What does that mean, Well, it
- 3:42Speaker 1: means daring to live out loud. So now it's time
- 3:47Speaker 1: to sit back and relax. Make yourself a cup of
- 3:50Speaker 1: coffee or tea, or get yourself a nice tall glass
- 3:54Speaker 1: of water, put your feet up, relax in your favorite chair,
- 3:58Speaker 1: or put your earbuds on and go for a walk. Right,
- 4:02Speaker 1: and don't forget to take notes, okay, because you're going
- 4:06Speaker 1: to have to take notes today. You're going to get
- 4:08Speaker 1: a lot of great information and we're going to have
- 4:11Speaker 1: an amazing time. Now, before I jump into today's show,
- 4:15Speaker 1: I want to take just a moment to welcome you.
- 4:19Speaker 1: If you're just joining us, I'm your host, doctor Gloria.
- 4:22Speaker 1: This is legacy living, Make your life count. I'd like
- 4:27Speaker 1: to extend a very special welcome to those of you
- 4:29Speaker 1: who are joining my show, or if you're joining Talk
- 4:33Speaker 1: Network Radio for the very first time, you're in for
- 4:37Speaker 1: a real treat. I'm so excited to have you listening
- 4:41Speaker 1: in today and I'm deeply honored that you've allowed me
- 4:45Speaker 1: to be part of your day. So you can be
- 4:47Speaker 1: inspired by the ideas and resources to make your life count.
- 4:53Speaker 1: Today's program again is all about daring to wear your
- 4:57Speaker 1: soul on the outside. Some people say daring to live
- 5:02Speaker 1: out loud a very important topic so you can enjoy
- 5:06Speaker 1: the life you love, a life of joy, and a
- 5:10Speaker 1: life of service. One of my favorite poets, Muriel Rickaiser,
- 5:16Speaker 1: reminds us that the world is not made up of Atams. Oh, no,
- 5:22Speaker 1: the world is not made up of Adams. Well, if
- 5:26Speaker 1: it's not made up of Adams, then what is it
- 5:28Speaker 1: made of Well, I'm so glad you asked right. It's
- 5:33Speaker 1: made up of stories. Our world is made up of stories.
- 5:37Speaker 1: I just love that.
- 5:38Speaker 2: Now.
- 5:39Speaker 1: Let's just think about that for a moment. No matter
- 5:42Speaker 1: where you live in the world, you hear stories, right.
- 5:46Speaker 1: You hear stories from the time you're born. You hear
- 5:49Speaker 1: stories as a little babe in arms, right. Stories you
- 5:54Speaker 1: hear around the dinner table or around the hearth. We
- 5:58Speaker 1: hear stories when we go to school, stories in the
- 6:00Speaker 1: lunch room, stories when we're ready to leave school, when
- 6:04Speaker 1: we're ready to graduate and perhaps move on to college.
- 6:08Speaker 1: And then when we apply to college, they ask us
- 6:11Speaker 1: to share stories about why we want to go to
- 6:13Speaker 1: college and what we hope to accomplish there. And then
- 6:17Speaker 1: once we arrive at college, we hear stories about the
- 6:20Speaker 1: college or the university that we're attending, and then more
- 6:24Speaker 1: stories as we move through our studies and then into
- 6:27Speaker 1: the workplace, and there we hear story after story after story.
- 6:34Speaker 1: Stories are a very big part of our lives, so
- 6:38Speaker 1: much so we don't even realize their presence or their
- 6:42Speaker 1: power in our lives. Sometimes. Did you know that stories
- 6:47Speaker 1: are how we make meaning, how we make sense of
- 6:51Speaker 1: the world. Stories help us chart and navigate the many
- 6:56Speaker 1: waters of our lives. They help us as we move
- 7:00Speaker 1: through the many moments, hours, and days of our lives.
- 7:04Speaker 1: In cultures all over the world, stories are revered as medicine,
- 7:11Speaker 1: stories as medicine. Now what exactly does that mean. Well,
- 7:17Speaker 1: stories are called medicine and revered as such because they
- 7:23Speaker 1: help to ground us and when we lose our way,
- 7:26Speaker 1: as we often do in our fast paced, ever evolving world.
- 7:31Speaker 1: Stories are the medicine that enable us, that help us
- 7:35Speaker 1: to come back home. Come back home, which means realigning
- 7:42Speaker 1: with ourselves and coming back into harmony with who we
- 7:46Speaker 1: are and whose we are, with who we belong to. Now.
- 7:52Speaker 1: This is true whether we're talking about an individual, a family,
- 7:56Speaker 1: a community, a team, or an organization. I was with
- 8:01Speaker 1: a client just a couple of days ago, and our
- 8:04Speaker 1: specific focus was on team building. Now, the resources we
- 8:08Speaker 1: used to get to team building, to get from here
- 8:11Speaker 1: to there were stories. In other words, we took a
- 8:15Speaker 1: look at what needed to be serviced, meaning what stories
- 8:18Speaker 1: needed to be serviced and made visible to be discussed
- 8:22Speaker 1: so that we could become intentional about doing what was
- 8:25Speaker 1: necessary to become the best team possible. Right, we wanted
- 8:30Speaker 1: to put our best foot forward, so to speak, to
- 8:33Speaker 1: do our best work in serving the organization's stakeholders. So
- 8:39Speaker 1: once again, stories are are powerful. Medicine. Poet and author
- 8:45Speaker 1: Mark Nepo reminds us that stories are small doses of
- 8:50Speaker 1: what matters, and he says, it is the telling that
- 8:54Speaker 1: releases the medicine, the telling that soothes our pain and
- 9:00Speaker 1: shares our joy. I just love that. I'm going to
- 9:03Speaker 1: repeat it. It is in the telling of the stories,
- 9:06Speaker 1: right that releases the medicine, the telling that soothes our
- 9:11Speaker 1: pain and shares our joy. In the key Swahili language,
- 9:18Speaker 1: the words habari gani mean what's the news or what's
- 9:23Speaker 1: happening now. In this podcast and in several others, I
- 9:29Speaker 1: will share with you small doses of what's happening now,
- 9:33Speaker 1: of what matters in the lives of everyday, ordinary people,
- 9:37Speaker 1: including some people who are very close to me. In fact,
- 9:41Speaker 1: I want to share one particular story with you today,
- 9:45Speaker 1: and this story that I will share breathes the timeless,
- 9:50Speaker 1: universal truths of what I call the Seven Sacred Promises.
- 9:55Speaker 1: They are truths that mentor us in ways of being
- 9:58Speaker 1: that are older than time, Truths that breathe just beneath
- 10:03Speaker 1: the surface of our everyday, busy lives. These are the
- 10:08Speaker 1: truths that we make visible in our life. We can
- 10:13Speaker 1: actually draw on them with conscious intention to shape our
- 10:18Speaker 1: daily choices, actions, and decisions. So what are the seven
- 10:24Speaker 1: Sacred Promises? They are gratitude, faith, love, vision, integrity, creative action,
- 10:32Speaker 1: and legacy. Now you hear me talk about all of
- 10:37Speaker 1: these promises frequently on this podcast in one way or another.
- 10:42Speaker 1: Today you will hear more about those sacred promises through
- 10:45Speaker 1: an inspiring story I'm going to share with you. This
- 10:49Speaker 1: story is a small dose of what matters, and it's
- 10:54Speaker 1: taken from some of the big themes in one of
- 10:57Speaker 1: my poems, and that poem is called song to Myself.
- 11:03Speaker 1: Song to Myself. Now, all of the stories that I'm
- 11:06Speaker 1: going to share with you over the next several weeks,
- 11:09Speaker 1: and this story in particular, are about people who are
- 11:12Speaker 1: just like you and me. Now, how is that? Because
- 11:17Speaker 1: we are all people who care. We care about ourselves,
- 11:21Speaker 1: we care about one another, We care about leaving the
- 11:24Speaker 1: world a little better off than the way we found it.
- 11:29Speaker 1: As stewards of the future, we dare to wear our
- 11:33Speaker 1: souls on the outside, to be in right relationship with
- 11:37Speaker 1: ourself and to be in right relationship with the people
- 11:41Speaker 1: around us. As instruments of soul, we sound the way
- 11:47Speaker 1: for others in our immediate circles and beyond. Did you
- 11:52Speaker 1: know that you you are a magnificent story And as
- 11:59Speaker 1: you live life, you are actually painting. You are painting
- 12:05Speaker 1: on the canvas of your soul. Now, at the end
- 12:12Speaker 1: of my sharing these inspiring stories over the next few weeks,
- 12:15Speaker 1: I'm going to invite you to give voice to your
- 12:18Speaker 1: own story, so you too can respond to that important
- 12:22Speaker 1: question habari gani, what's happening now? And I want to
- 12:28Speaker 1: inspire you to draw from the deep well spring of
- 12:32Speaker 1: your life and the transformative power of your own true voice.
- 12:39Speaker 1: Until then, I trust that you will be moved by
- 12:44Speaker 1: these stories of hope, radiance, and celebration as you encounter
- 12:50Speaker 1: each individual soul. I want you to feel that sweet
- 12:57Speaker 1: shimmer of your own story and hear the resonance and
- 13:02Speaker 1: powerful medicine of your own true voice. I trust that
- 13:07Speaker 1: you will bask in the joy and inspiration of the stories,
- 13:12Speaker 1: allowing them to illuminate your sacred life path. I also
- 13:17Speaker 1: trust that you will accept the gifts they offer so
- 13:20Speaker 1: that you can pass these stories on and faithfully serve
- 13:24Speaker 1: the people around you by lighting the path for someone else.
- 13:28Speaker 1: So again, I invite you to get cozy, sip on
- 13:33Speaker 1: a cup of tea or your favorite coffee, and join
- 13:36Speaker 1: me by the hearth, join me at the fire to
- 13:39Speaker 1: hear the good news. I will begin this story, as
- 13:47Speaker 1: I will other stories, with a brief excerpt from my
- 13:51Speaker 1: poem song to Myself. It doesn't matter to me what
- 13:58Speaker 1: you do or where you are. I want to know
- 14:02Speaker 1: who you are when the sun goes down, and if
- 14:06Speaker 1: you are willing to put everything on the line to
- 14:11Speaker 1: fulfill your soul's desire. Now, I want you to meet
- 14:23Speaker 1: someone very near and dear to me, and that person
- 14:27Speaker 1: is my sweet sister, Vera. My sister is a woman
- 14:31Speaker 1: who put everything on the line to fulfill her soul's desire,
- 14:35Speaker 1: not once, not twice, but many, many, many times. In
- 14:39Speaker 1: her own words, Vera would say that she is blessed
- 14:42Speaker 1: beyond measure, for she is a woman who is at
- 14:47Speaker 1: the divine union of her passion and her calling. Now.
- 14:52Speaker 1: This is one of the many stories she has shared
- 14:56Speaker 1: with me over the years. At this particular time, she
- 15:00Speaker 1: was in the early years of homeschooling her daughter and
- 15:03Speaker 1: launching her private practice as a cranial sacral therapist. The
- 15:09Speaker 1: seeds she had sown through her daily acts of service,
- 15:12Speaker 1: expressed through gratitude, faith, love, and the other sacred promises,
- 15:18Speaker 1: are now providing a harvest of blessings for Vera, her daughter,
- 15:22Speaker 1: as well as for her family, her clients, her community,
- 15:26Speaker 1: and the world beyond now. When she started her private practice,
- 15:31Speaker 1: Vera's personal vision was to begin as a solo practitioner
- 15:36Speaker 1: and then over the next few years, build a wellness
- 15:39Speaker 1: community what I'd like to think of as an ensemble
- 15:43Speaker 1: of light hearted practitioners, she said, I want to work
- 15:47Speaker 1: with other therapists as well as doctors, neurosurgeons, nutritionists and
- 15:52Speaker 1: other professionals who care deeply about health and well being
- 15:56Speaker 1: and who really understand that we are designed by God
- 16:00Speaker 1: God's grace to move toward wholeness, toward health. It will
- 16:05Speaker 1: take a few years, and that's where I see myself now.
- 16:11Speaker 1: When I spoke with Vera to hear about what's happening
- 16:13Speaker 1: on her journey, I greeted her with habari GANI, Hey,
- 16:17Speaker 1: what's the news, and as usual, she was beaming with joy.
- 16:22Speaker 1: This past year has been amazing. It's been a steady
- 16:26Speaker 1: stream of miracles, one right after the other. This time
- 16:30Speaker 1: last year, I was dreaming of building a wellness community. Well,
- 16:34Speaker 1: today I'm doing it. It's all happening so fast now.
- 16:39Speaker 1: Don't get me wrong. It didn't happen overnight, right, and
- 16:43Speaker 1: I believe that it wouldn't have happened at all if
- 16:46Speaker 1: I hadn't been intentional and one hundred percent committed to
- 16:50Speaker 1: my calling and life path.
- 16:53Speaker 2: Gloria.
- 16:54Speaker 1: I have learned the power of gratitude big time, and
- 16:58Speaker 1: the power of faith, love, vision and all the other promises.
- 17:02Speaker 1: I've continued to write my clients thank you notes, my
- 17:06Speaker 1: notes of gratitude. My clients are now referring family members
- 17:10Speaker 1: and friends to me. I'm treating people of all ages.
- 17:16Speaker 1: This time last year, I was praying about how to
- 17:18Speaker 1: find clients. Now, most days I'm fully booked now. Vera
- 17:27Speaker 1: also told me of the difficult decision she made to
- 17:30Speaker 1: move her office to a different location. She decided to
- 17:34Speaker 1: make the move to better accommodate the needs of her
- 17:37Speaker 1: clients and to support her vision of building a wellness community.
- 17:43Speaker 1: A few months before my lease was up, I knew it.
- 17:47Speaker 1: I just knew I had to move to a new location.
- 17:51Speaker 1: I'm not sure exactly how or when I knew it.
- 17:54Speaker 1: Was kind of like when I knew I had to
- 17:56Speaker 1: leave my engineering job and open my practice and homeschool
- 18:00Speaker 1: my daughter. Well, when the building owner approached me about
- 18:05Speaker 1: my current lease, I thought, what do I say that
- 18:08Speaker 1: I know I have to leave. I knew I needed
- 18:12Speaker 1: to be honest with him, so I told him about
- 18:14Speaker 1: my vision for expanding my practice and creating a wellness community.
- 18:18Speaker 1: He said, no problem, come see my other building. I
- 18:23Speaker 1: want to keep you as a tenant. You know me,
- 18:26Speaker 1: I jumped for joy and saying bonus when I saw
- 18:32Speaker 1: the offices on the first level, I thought, hmmm, nice,
- 18:35Speaker 1: the top of the world offices on the second level
- 18:38Speaker 1: were magnificent, but they just didn't feel right. But when
- 18:43Speaker 1: I saw the office space at the basement level, I
- 18:46Speaker 1: knew for an absolute fact that this is what God
- 18:49Speaker 1: had intended for us to have. He planned it long
- 18:53Speaker 1: before I arrived. There are a series of offices with
- 18:56Speaker 1: the central space for reception. Now the offices used to
- 19:01Speaker 1: be a counseling facility. She said, So there's extra insulation
- 19:05Speaker 1: in the walls for privacy, and there's a bathroom right
- 19:08Speaker 1: next to my daughter's homeschool room. It's private, so I
- 19:12Speaker 1: don't have to worry about her safety. Hey, better location,
- 19:17Speaker 1: plenty of free parking, and there are plenty of rooms
- 19:20Speaker 1: for expansion and growth space for my wellness community practitioners.
- 19:26Speaker 1: It's perfect. And the building owner is holding the unoccupied
- 19:30Speaker 1: offices for me rent free until they fill.
- 19:35Speaker 2: Well.
- 19:36Speaker 1: Things took off from there so rapidly that I know
- 19:39Speaker 1: it's God. It's divine. Via then told me about another
- 19:45Speaker 1: waterfall of unexpected blessings. The carpenter who custom built the
- 19:50Speaker 1: office and homeschool bookshelves for her old office disassembled them,
- 19:55Speaker 1: and then reconfigured them for her new space for free.
- 20:01Speaker 2: How cool is that?
- 20:03Speaker 1: Then an acquaintance offered Vera all the interior paints she
- 20:07Speaker 1: needed for twenty five bucks, and a group of the
- 20:10Speaker 1: carpenter's friends painted her entire suite of offices in exchange
- 20:15Speaker 1: for Vera's donation to a needy charity. Now here's a
- 20:20Speaker 1: part of Vera's story that allows us to see why
- 20:24Speaker 1: she's so enthusiastic about and grateful that she responded to
- 20:29Speaker 1: her calling to become a cranial sacral healer. A five
- 20:35Speaker 1: year old boy named Lucas, not his real name, of course,
- 20:39Speaker 1: came to my office this week for a treatment. He
- 20:43Speaker 1: has a feeding too because he won't eat. His speech
- 20:47Speaker 1: and social skills are at a level below what they
- 20:49Speaker 1: should be for his age. I think he has experienced
- 20:53Speaker 1: some kind of deep trauma, perhaps abuse, and most likely
- 20:58Speaker 1: some psychological damage. His grandmother brought Lucas to my office
- 21:04Speaker 1: after talking with her about some of his challenges, including
- 21:08Speaker 1: his unwillingness to be touched by anyone. I just said,
- 21:11Speaker 1: flat out, I'm expecting a god sized miracle so that
- 21:16Speaker 1: I could treat him. I asked Lucas if it would
- 21:19Speaker 1: be okay for me to touch him. He immediately backed
- 21:23Speaker 1: away from me and said, no, no, time to go home,
- 21:26Speaker 1: Time to go home. I told him I didn't need
- 21:30Speaker 1: to touch him, and he seemed to calm down a little.
- 21:34Speaker 1: I had brought a toy train and Lincoln logs for
- 21:38Speaker 1: him to play with, so we both sat on the
- 21:40Speaker 1: floor and played with the toys. But even as we
- 21:46Speaker 1: played with the toys, Lucas always made sure he was
- 21:49Speaker 1: close to the door. Finally, I just laid back on
- 21:54Speaker 1: the floor and guess what, he came right to me
- 22:00Speaker 1: with me let me touch him, which led to my
- 22:03Speaker 1: being able to treat him. Gloria. It was probably the
- 22:08Speaker 1: most significant treatment I've ever done. The treatment was so
- 22:12Speaker 1: calming that Lucas was sleepy at the end, but when
- 22:15Speaker 1: he stood up he started dancing. Wow, it was incredible.
- 22:22Speaker 1: In addition to the children I work with, I also
- 22:24Speaker 1: like to treat the mother's or the care providers so
- 22:29Speaker 1: that they can do some of this work outside the
- 22:31Speaker 1: office with their own children. Well, guess what, Lucas's grandmother
- 22:36Speaker 1: is coming for her first treatment on Monday. I just
- 22:42Speaker 1: love that story. Vera's miracles keep flowing from the deep
- 22:47Speaker 1: well spring of her saying yes to God's legacy for her.
- 22:54Speaker 1: For Vera, wearing her soul on the outside is as
- 22:57Speaker 1: natural as breathing, for she is so robed in that garment.
- 23:03Speaker 2: Gloria, you know what.
- 23:04Speaker 1: Makes all of this so worthwhile is the difference I
- 23:07Speaker 1: see in my own daughter. A little over a year ago,
- 23:12Speaker 1: I overheard her playing with her Barbie dolls. In my
- 23:16Speaker 1: daughter's imaginary conversation, Barbie said to one of her girlfriend dolls,
- 23:21Speaker 1: I'm busy. I can't go out tonight. I've got to
- 23:24Speaker 1: take a conference call. Hm. Boy, that grabbed me by
- 23:29Speaker 1: the heartstrings. These days, between every client, Vera and her
- 23:36Speaker 1: daughter my niece are together. They're either engaged in their
- 23:40Speaker 1: homeschooling adventures or they're just hanging out together. We always
- 23:45Speaker 1: have lunch together. Sometimes we take a field trip as
- 23:48Speaker 1: part of our lunch. We sing, we tell stories, and
- 23:52Speaker 1: by helping my daughter with her language lessons, I'm learning
- 23:56Speaker 1: what she's learning. Hey, I'm in seventh Heaven and my daughter, well,
- 24:00Speaker 1: she couldn't be happier. Vera shared that just recently, her
- 24:05Speaker 1: daughter researched and wrote a report for her lesson on
- 24:09Speaker 1: international world culture, and in her report she described a
- 24:14Speaker 1: wonderful creativity school in Italy. Italy. That's right, their school
- 24:21Speaker 1: motto is nothing without joy. And then her daughter said, hey, mom,
- 24:27Speaker 1: that sounds like a great model for our school too.
- 24:35Speaker 2: Now.
- 24:36Speaker 1: I began Vera's story with these lines from my poem
- 24:40Speaker 1: song to myself. It doesn't matter to me what you
- 24:44Speaker 1: do or where you work. I want to know who
- 24:48Speaker 1: you are when the sun goes down, and if you
- 24:51Speaker 1: are willing to put everything on the line to fulfill
- 24:55Speaker 1: your soul's desire, you know who we are when the
- 25:02Speaker 1: sun goes down makes all the difference, doesn't it. It's
- 25:06Speaker 1: who we are when no one is looking that really counts,
- 25:11Speaker 1: because you know what, if we can be true to
- 25:12Speaker 1: ourselves and do what's right when we're alone, when nobody
- 25:16Speaker 1: else is looking, or keeping score or keeping track, we
- 25:19Speaker 1: can be that very same person when we are in
- 25:22Speaker 1: the company of others. Well, I certainly hope this story
- 25:27Speaker 1: about Vera and her adventures has inspired you. I'm going
- 25:33Speaker 1: to share my entire poem with you now so that
- 25:35Speaker 1: you can hear how Vera's story fits in within the
- 25:38Speaker 1: overall context of it. Now, you know that I coach
- 25:43Speaker 1: and consult and speak and work with leaders all the time,
- 25:48Speaker 1: and I also focus on leadership. I specifically focus on
- 25:53Speaker 1: values based leadership. My clients love it because very few
- 25:58Speaker 1: other leadership coaches and consultants and speakers do that. And
- 26:02Speaker 1: my clients often ask me to tell them more about
- 26:05Speaker 1: my life, to share more of my own story with them.
- 26:09Speaker 1: I do, and I also share this poem with them
- 26:12Speaker 1: because my story lives and breathes inside of this poem.
- 26:18Speaker 1: I simply tell them, if you really want to know
- 26:21Speaker 1: more about me, just read or listen to this poem.
- 26:25Speaker 1: Let me share it with you. Song to myself, it
- 26:33Speaker 1: doesn't matter to me what you do or where you work.
- 26:37Speaker 1: I want to know who you are when the sun
- 26:41Speaker 1: goes down, and if you are willing to put everything
- 26:45Speaker 1: on the line to fulfill your soul's desire. It doesn't
- 26:50Speaker 1: matter to me how much bread you can afford to
- 26:53Speaker 1: put on your own table. I want to know if
- 26:57Speaker 1: you will need and wait and bake the bread and
- 27:01Speaker 1: share your blessings at somebody else's table. I want to
- 27:06Speaker 1: know if you can look into the eyes of the
- 27:11Speaker 1: young woman who sleeps with fear each night, the one
- 27:15Speaker 1: who dared to walk away from the hands that pummeled her.
- 27:21Speaker 1: I want to know if you can share her pain.
- 27:27Speaker 1: It doesn't matter to me what neighborhood you live in
- 27:29Speaker 1: or what kind of car you drive. I want to
- 27:33Speaker 1: know what drives you, what compels you to follow your
- 27:38Speaker 1: soul's longing. I want to know what pierces your heart,
- 27:44Speaker 1: awakens you at night, and inspires you to devote yourself
- 27:48Speaker 1: to whomever or whatever moves you. I want to know
- 27:54Speaker 1: how many times you've opened your heart and extended a
- 27:58Speaker 1: hand to your homeless sister or brother. I want to
- 28:03Speaker 1: know if you will sit in the quiet dark hours
- 28:08Speaker 1: between midnight and dawn listening to another's heart song. It
- 28:16Speaker 1: doesn't matter to me how many unspeakable secrets you have.
- 28:22Speaker 1: I want to know if you will share your secrets
- 28:26Speaker 1: to liberate your demons so they don't devour you or
- 28:30Speaker 1: those you love. I want to know if you will
- 28:36Speaker 1: risk looking foolish to embrace your bliss. I want to
- 28:41Speaker 1: know if you will grasp the sleeve of a nameless
- 28:45Speaker 1: elder stumbling on his way and lead him in from
- 28:49Speaker 1: the cold. I want to know if you will throw
- 28:54Speaker 1: away your cloak and show your heart, if you will
- 28:58Speaker 1: dare to wear your soul on the outside. It doesn't
- 29:05Speaker 1: matter to me how many mountains you've climbed or will climb.
- 29:09Speaker 1: I want to know if you've fallen down in the
- 29:13Speaker 1: valley of despair. I want to know if you've scarred
- 29:18Speaker 1: your knees on the stones of self abandonment. I want
- 29:24Speaker 1: to know how long you've been hidden in the shadows
- 29:28Speaker 1: of hypocrisy, prejudice, addiction, abuse. I want to know if
- 29:36Speaker 1: you will stop to light a candle and pray with
- 29:40Speaker 1: others who will surely wander there. It doesn't matter to
- 29:48Speaker 1: me what you say you will do for others. I
- 29:52Speaker 1: want to know if you will act with courage and conviction,
- 29:58Speaker 1: if you will daily cradle the frail hand of your
- 30:02Speaker 1: mother when she no longer knows your name. I want
- 30:08Speaker 1: to know if you will look into the hazel, gray,
- 30:13Speaker 1: or ebony eyes of a stranger and say yes, yes,
- 30:20Speaker 1: to affirm your sister, your brother, yourself. I want to
- 30:27Speaker 1: know if you will take the time to be still,
- 30:32Speaker 1: call the names and pass the cup to honor the
- 30:36Speaker 1: ancestors who cleared a path and broke new ground for
- 30:40Speaker 1: you and your children. It doesn't matter to me that
- 30:47Speaker 1: you have a past. I want to know if you
- 30:51Speaker 1: will celebrate your present, if you will take a stand,
- 30:55Speaker 1: declare yourself, sing, I am boldly and with rejoicing, not
- 31:04Speaker 1: only to the stars at night, but to anyone anywhere,
- 31:08Speaker 1: without apologies or regrets. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we
- 31:24Speaker 1: could all take a stand and declare ourselves, declare ourselves
- 31:29Speaker 1: and sing, I am boldly and with rejoicing, declare ourselves
- 31:33Speaker 1: by lifting up and celebrating the awesome, incredible power of
- 31:38Speaker 1: our own stories, our own true voice. Because you know what,
- 31:43Speaker 1: that's how God made us. That's how God made us.
- 31:46Speaker 1: He did not make us to cower or to hide out,
- 31:49Speaker 1: or to believe what the world would have us, believe
- 31:53Speaker 1: that we're missing something, that we're insufficient, that were not enough.
- 31:59Speaker 1: We are children of the most high. We are made
- 32:04Speaker 1: to stand up and be counted. And when you can
- 32:08Speaker 1: stand up and declare yourself, guess what, you can help
- 32:13Speaker 1: somebody else do the same, because you are actually giving
- 32:16Speaker 1: them permission. When you make that kind of difference in
- 32:20Speaker 1: your own life, you can make that kind of difference
- 32:23Speaker 1: in somebody else's life too. So that's how you do it,
- 32:29Speaker 1: That's how it's done day by day, step by step,
- 32:32Speaker 1: moment by moment, smile by smile, every single day, three
- 32:37Speaker 1: sixty five, twenty four seven. Now you can learn more
- 32:42Speaker 1: about the ideas and the story that I just shared
- 32:45Speaker 1: with you today. You can also find resources to equip
- 32:50Speaker 1: and inspire you to make your life count by visiting
- 32:54Speaker 1: the Gloria Burgess website. That's Gloria Burgess dot com. The
- 33:00Speaker 1: Gloria Burgess website. And as I've mentioned before, if you
- 33:04Speaker 1: love to be inspired, you can actually subscribe to my
- 33:07Speaker 1: inspirations right on my website. Just scroll down a little
- 33:11Speaker 1: bit look on the right sidebar until you see the
- 33:14Speaker 1: place to add your email address to subscribe to my
- 33:18Speaker 1: weekly inspirations. It's that simple. Each week you'll get a
- 33:22Speaker 1: lovely image, a lovely photograph, and a short quotation that
- 33:26Speaker 1: inspires you. Now, if you missed any part of this
- 33:31Speaker 1: week's podcast, or last week's show, or any show for
- 33:35Speaker 1: that matter, you can listen at your convenience. You can
- 33:38Speaker 1: even listen on the go. Check us out at www
- 33:43Speaker 1: Dot talknetwork radio dot com. Forward Slash hosts Forward Slash
- 33:50Speaker 1: Legacy Living Okay, that's www Dot talknetwork radio dot com.
- 33:58Speaker 1: Forward Slash hosts forward Slash Legacy Living. If you want
- 34:04Speaker 1: to be the change you seek, be sure to listen
- 34:08Speaker 1: to this podcast again and again and be sure to
- 34:12Speaker 1: tell somebody. You can find me on iTunes, Audible, Alexa, SoundCloud, iHeart,
- 34:18Speaker 1: tune In, Spreaker, dot Com, Talk Network Radio, and so
- 34:22Speaker 1: many other places. You can also find me on LinkedIn
- 34:26Speaker 1: or Facebook and again, you can find me on Facebook
- 34:30Speaker 1: at Facebook dot com forward slash dr for doctor Dr
- 34:35Speaker 1: Gloria Burgess, pH D. Forward Slash. You can also hear
- 34:40Speaker 1: and see me by visiting the ted x website and
- 34:44Speaker 1: listening to one of my ted talks. Just type in
- 34:47Speaker 1: my name, Gloria Burgess and find me there. Now. Before
- 34:52Speaker 1: I close today, I want to thank each of you
- 34:54Speaker 1: for tuning in to today's show, for allowing me to
- 34:58Speaker 1: share a bit about my journey with what le Legacy
- 35:00Speaker 1: living is all about, not just living and learning, but
- 35:03Speaker 1: living and learning and serving so that you make a
- 35:07Speaker 1: difference in your own life and in the lives of others.
- 35:11Speaker 1: It's all about being one purpose every single day. Three
- 35:16Speaker 1: sixty five twenty four seven. Legacy Living is a powerful
- 35:22Speaker 1: way to make your life count. Once again, I want
- 35:27Speaker 1: to thank you for joining me for today's show. I'm
- 35:31Speaker 1: your host, doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess, and this is Legacy Living,
- 35:37Speaker 1: Make your Life Count. Please join me again next time
- 35:42Speaker 1: right here on Talk Network Radio for another show of
- 35:46Speaker 1: Legacy Living, Make your Life Count. We're here again next
- 35:50Speaker 1: week Talk Network Radio. Don't just count the days in
- 35:56Speaker 1: your life. Make the days in your life count. That's
- 36:02Speaker 1: what Legacy Living is all about. Have a fantastic day
- 36:06Speaker 1: and remember make the days in your life count. God
- 36:11Speaker 1: bless that's our show today.
- 36:26Speaker 2: I'm your host, doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess. I hope you'll
- 36:31Speaker 2: join me again next time. Until then, don't just count
- 36:36Speaker 2: the days in your life. Make the days in your
- 36:40Speaker 2: life count. That's what legacy Living is all about.
- 36:45Speaker 1: Here's to you. Have a fantastic day and be sure
- 36:49Speaker 1: to make it a yes kind of day. Remember to celebrate.
- 36:54Speaker 2: The music of your life.
- 36:58Speaker 1: Make the day in your life count