Latest / Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess / The Secret Gifts of Gratitude | Episode #448
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.
- 3:00Speaker 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
- 3:21Speaker 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 a 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 atoms.
- 5:21Speaker 1: Oh no, the world is not made up of adams. Well,
- 5:26Speaker 1: if it's not made up of adams, then what is
- 5:28Speaker 1: it made of Well, I'm so glad you asked right.
- 5:32Speaker 1: It's made up of stories. Our world is made up
- 5:37Speaker 1: of stories. I just love that. Now. Let's just think
- 5:39Speaker 1: about that for a moment. No matter where you live
- 5:43Speaker 1: in the world, you hear stories, right. You hear stories
- 5:46Speaker 1: from the time you're born. You hear stories as a
- 5:50Speaker 1: little babe in arms, right. Stories you hear around the
- 5:55Speaker 1: dinner table or around the hearth. We hear stories when
- 5:59Speaker 1: we go to school, stories in the lunch room, stories
- 6:02Speaker 1: when we're ready to leave school, when we're ready to
- 6:04Speaker 1: graduate and perhaps move on to college. And then when
- 6:08Speaker 1: we apply to college, they ask us to share stories
- 6:12Speaker 1: about why we want to go to college and what
- 6:15Speaker 1: we hope to accomplish there. And then once we arrive
- 6:18Speaker 1: at college, we hear stories about the college or the
- 6:21Speaker 1: university that we're attending, and then more stories as we
- 6:25Speaker 1: move through our studies and then into the workplace, and
- 6:29Speaker 1: there we hear story after story after story. Stories are
- 6:35Speaker 1: a very big part of our lives, so much so
- 6:39Speaker 1: we don't even realize their presence or their power in
- 6:43Speaker 1: our lives. Sometimes. Did you know that stories are how
- 6:48Speaker 1: we make meaning, how we make sense of the world.
- 6:53Speaker 1: Stories help us chart and navigate the many waters of
- 6:56Speaker 1: our lives. They help us as we move through the
- 7:00Speaker 1: many moments, hours, and days of our lives. In cultures
- 7:05Speaker 1: all over the world, stories are revered as medicine, stories
- 7:12Speaker 1: as medicine. Now what exactly does that mean. Well, stories
- 7:18Speaker 1: are called medicine and revered as such because they help
- 7:23Speaker 1: to ground us and when we lose our way, as
- 7:26Speaker 1: we often do in our fast paced, every 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: use 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,
- 10:33Speaker 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
- 10:50Speaker 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 your life, you are actually painting. You are
- 12:04Speaker 1: painting on the canvas of your soul. Now, at the
- 12:11Speaker 1: end of my sharing these inspiring stories over the next
- 12:14Speaker 1: few weeks, I'm going to invite you to give voice
- 12:18Speaker 1: to your own story, so you too can respond to
- 12:22Speaker 1: that important question habari gani, what's happening now? And I
- 12:28Speaker 1: want to inspire you to draw from the deep well
- 12:31Speaker 1: spring of your life and the transformative power of your
- 12:36Speaker 1: own true voice. Until then, I trust that you will
- 12:42Speaker 1: be moved by these stories of hope, radiance, and celebration
- 12:49Speaker 1: as you encounter each individual soul. I want you to
- 12:55Speaker 1: feel that sweet shimmer of your own story and hear
- 13:00Speaker 1: the resonance and powerful medicine of your own true voice.
- 13:07Speaker 1: I trust that you will bask in the joy and
- 13:10Speaker 1: inspiration of the stories, allowing them to illuminate your sacred
- 13:14Speaker 1: life path. I also trust that you will accept the
- 13:18Speaker 1: gifts they offer so that you can pass these stories
- 13:22Speaker 1: on and faithfully serve the people around you by lighting
- 13:25Speaker 1: the path for someone else. So again, I invite you
- 13:32Speaker 1: to get cozy, sip on a cup of tea or
- 13:34Speaker 1: your favorite coffee, and join me by the hearth, join
- 13:37Speaker 1: me at the fire to hear the good news. I
- 13:44Speaker 1: will begin this story, as I will other stories, with
- 13:49Speaker 1: a brief excerpt from my poem song to Myself. I
- 13:57Speaker 1: want to know if you can look into the eyes
- 14:01Speaker 1: of the young woman who sleeps with fear each night,
- 14:05Speaker 1: the one who dared to walk away from the hands
- 14:10Speaker 1: that pummeled her. I want to know if you can
- 14:14Speaker 1: share her pain now I want you to meet a
- 14:20Speaker 1: very special person. She's a dear friend. Her name is
- 14:24Speaker 1: Jean Jeane is a woman who used to sleep with
- 14:28Speaker 1: fear each night, but more than anything, she wanted her
- 14:33Speaker 1: life back. She was tired of being held captive by fear.
- 14:39Speaker 1: When she was ready to dare to wear her soul
- 14:41Speaker 1: on the outside, when she was really ready to live
- 14:45Speaker 1: out loud, she asked me to work with her as
- 14:48Speaker 1: her coach. Here is Jeane's amazing story. When we first
- 14:55Speaker 1: started working together, jean was just completing a six year
- 14:59Speaker 1: learning journey. During those years, she was learning what she
- 15:03Speaker 1: needed to become a hospice professional. She devoted herself to
- 15:08Speaker 1: developing the necessary skills, enriching her character qualities, and learning
- 15:15Speaker 1: about spiritual practices to become the best hospice care provider
- 15:19Speaker 1: she could be. At that time, her dream was to
- 15:24Speaker 1: coach and train other hospice workers. In fact, she wanted
- 15:28Speaker 1: to start her own business dedicated to growing other hospice professionals,
- 15:33Speaker 1: overseeing and caring for their personal, professional and spiritual development.
- 15:38Speaker 1: Jeanne sailed through her six years of training and confidently
- 15:43Speaker 1: worked for several years as a hospice worker for a
- 15:46Speaker 1: large healthcare network. However, when she began to seriously consider
- 15:52Speaker 1: launching her own business, she simply froze. In fact, she
- 15:56Speaker 1: was absolutely immobilized, paralyzed with fear, utterly crippled, stopped dead
- 16:03Speaker 1: in her tracks by her rather loud chorus of inner critics. Now,
- 16:10Speaker 1: most of us have experienced something like this at some
- 16:13Speaker 1: point in our own lives. Thankfully, and to her credit,
- 16:18Speaker 1: Jeanne recognized that she was stuck and she was simply
- 16:21Speaker 1: unable to move forward with her dream, with her personal vision,
- 16:26Speaker 1: So she reached out and sought coaching for herself. Together,
- 16:30Speaker 1: we created a plan for her so she could delve
- 16:33Speaker 1: more deeply into what she needed to make a shift,
- 16:36Speaker 1: to make a difference in her life. We also focused
- 16:40Speaker 1: on specific practices she would need to cultivate and integrate
- 16:45Speaker 1: into her life. We decided to focus on primarily one
- 16:52Speaker 1: of the practices. We also included another one, but the
- 16:58Speaker 1: primary focus was gratitude, and then the other focus was
- 17:02Speaker 1: on sanctuary. Now, Jane's first task was to face her fear,
- 17:08Speaker 1: right to confront her chorus of critical voices. That meant
- 17:12Speaker 1: she had to turn off the switch to actually disengage
- 17:16Speaker 1: that chorus of critics. Then she had to commit to
- 17:21Speaker 1: escort them out of her life once and for all.
- 17:26Speaker 1: In addition to other spiritual resources, Jane committed to a
- 17:29Speaker 1: gratitude practice that included appreciation, compassion, and forgiveness. Now, when
- 17:37Speaker 1: I spoke with Gene to learn about what's happening on
- 17:40Speaker 1: her journey, I greeted her with habari GANI, Hey, what's
- 17:44Speaker 1: the news? Listen as she tells us. More, as Jane
- 17:49Speaker 1: shares with us a small dose of what matters in
- 17:54Speaker 1: my practice of gratitude, I learned that appreciation, compassion, and
- 17:59Speaker 1: forgiveness have presence, and each of these spiritual practices has
- 18:04Speaker 1: a shape, a texture, a weight, and color which continues
- 18:10Speaker 1: to instruct and guide me. Jeanne's courageous and loving confrontation
- 18:17Speaker 1: of her inner critics took many, many months of dedicated, focused,
- 18:21Speaker 1: faithful work on her part. Her focus and faithfulness ultimately
- 18:27Speaker 1: led her to a significant breakthrough. During one of our
- 18:33Speaker 1: coaching sessions, she said, Gloria, this was some of the
- 18:37Speaker 1: most difficult, yet joyous work I've ever done. To bring
- 18:42Speaker 1: closure to her many months of working on reparation and forgiveness,
- 18:47Speaker 1: Jeanne created a ceremony a very special ceremony of gratitude
- 18:52Speaker 1: to honor her past, to reinvigorate her present, and to
- 18:57Speaker 1: celebrate her new found freedom to now move boldly towards
- 19:02Speaker 1: her dream. She gave me permission to share part of
- 19:06Speaker 1: her ceremony with you, Jeanne says to Night. I create
- 19:14Speaker 1: a ceremony to burn the hateful, negative words of the
- 19:18Speaker 1: choir in my mind. I bring forward any one who
- 19:21Speaker 1: has a voice in this choir. One by one. I honor,
- 19:25Speaker 1: I lovingly think, and I let go of the voices
- 19:29Speaker 1: that don't serve to lift me up. As I let
- 19:34Speaker 1: go of each voice, I pick up a small slip
- 19:37Speaker 1: of paper with that person's name on it, my painful
- 19:41Speaker 1: memory associated with him or her, and a positive affirmation
- 19:47Speaker 1: to replace the negative painful memory. Then I burn the
- 19:52Speaker 1: piece of paper in a special vessel. I call it
- 19:56Speaker 1: my burning bowl. With each piece of burning paper, I
- 20:01Speaker 1: release the pain, sadness, hurt and anger from my spirit
- 20:07Speaker 1: and from the cells of my body. With each piece
- 20:11Speaker 1: of burning paper, I turn off the volume of a
- 20:15Speaker 1: hurtful voice and turn up the voice of my capable, strong,
- 20:21Speaker 1: resilient self. With each piece of burning paper, I say
- 20:26Speaker 1: these words in reverence and love. I thank you for
- 20:31Speaker 1: your presence in my life. You didn't intend to hurt
- 20:35Speaker 1: the soul of my child, but she was injured. She
- 20:40Speaker 1: carries your words with her. I know that I'm blessed
- 20:45Speaker 1: by the good and the bad, and I pray that
- 20:49Speaker 1: the blessings of gratitude will continue to be revealed. Now
- 20:54Speaker 1: I return you into the ground of your life lived
- 20:57Speaker 1: by you as up to time. Today, I am free
- 21:02Speaker 1: of your judgments and grief. I am free of the
- 21:08Speaker 1: burden within my soul. Then, jean said, I imagine myself
- 21:14Speaker 1: putting a rose over the heart and in the hands
- 21:17Speaker 1: of my beloves. After the flame shrinks to a faint glow.
- 21:22Speaker 1: I stand in my dimly lit room, and I allow
- 21:25Speaker 1: my soul to radiate outward for all to see. I
- 21:31Speaker 1: am free from the voices of pain, sadness, hurt, and anger.
- 21:37Speaker 1: I am free to believe in my goodness, my abilities,
- 21:42Speaker 1: and my connection to God. All is deep, all is mine.
- 21:49Speaker 1: As my spirit heals, I can shine. I will open
- 21:56Speaker 1: to the healing of others. I am a beacon of
- 21:59Speaker 1: life light into this world. Over the next few months,
- 22:08Speaker 1: and really during the past few years, Jeanne continued to
- 22:12Speaker 1: be blessed by new insights and revelations. As her journey unfolds,
- 22:18Speaker 1: she continues to be reminded that new roses will indeed
- 22:22Speaker 1: grow from her old wounds. She actually perceives their opening
- 22:28Speaker 1: buds in the questions she allowed herself to live into.
- 22:34Speaker 1: What are those questions? Well, here are some of the questions.
- 22:37Speaker 1: She asked herself. What reward did I receive from the
- 22:42Speaker 1: messages I chose to keep with me all these years?
- 22:49Speaker 1: Another question? Do I want that reward to control my life? Now?
- 22:56Speaker 1: What spiritual practice will I follow instead? As Jeanne continues
- 23:04Speaker 1: to enrich her learning about gratitude, she rejoices and revels
- 23:09Speaker 1: in the rich harmonies of appreciation, compassion, and forgiveness. One afternoon,
- 23:17Speaker 1: while we were enjoying coffee, she shared some of her
- 23:20Speaker 1: reflections and learning with me, Gloria, these past few months,
- 23:25Speaker 1: I've been very silent inside, sitting with God in patience
- 23:30Speaker 1: and wonder. I am beginning to understand what others see
- 23:35Speaker 1: in me, a person with a huge heart full of
- 23:39Speaker 1: love for others, And now I am growing in love
- 23:46Speaker 1: for myself. May I continue on this sacred path until
- 23:53Speaker 1: I can feel that same respect and love for myself
- 23:57Speaker 1: as I have for others, and to feel it with
- 24:00Speaker 1: ease and grace. May I continue to enjoy the full
- 24:05Speaker 1: measure of this sanctuary of silence within my soul. May
- 24:11Speaker 1: I continue to celebrate the spirit of God within me
- 24:16Speaker 1: and feel Love's holy light within my soul. Shortly after
- 24:27Speaker 1: her gratitude ceremony, Gene composed this praise poem to celebrate
- 24:34Speaker 1: herself and the healing power of gratitude and sanctuary. She says,
- 24:42Speaker 1: I celebrate, I celebrate. I celebrate the spirit of God
- 24:48Speaker 1: within me. My voice sings loud, my voice sings true,
- 24:56Speaker 1: my voice sings of me. I c I celebrate. I
- 25:03Speaker 1: celebrate the spirit of God within me. I feel the
- 25:08Speaker 1: light within my soul. I feel the voice of me.
- 25:13Speaker 1: I celebrate. I celebrate. I celebrate the spirit of God
- 25:20Speaker 1: within me. I am what I was created for. I
- 25:28Speaker 1: am the woman I am. I am a woman of size.
- 25:34Speaker 1: I am ego free. I celebrate. I celebrate. I celebrate
- 25:42Speaker 1: the spirit of God within me. I am free. I
- 25:47Speaker 1: am free of the voices within me. There is only
- 25:52Speaker 1: room for me. I celebrate. I celebrate. I celebrate the
- 26:02Speaker 1: spirit of God within me. I just love that story.
- 26:17Speaker 1: Jeanne's miracles continue to flow, creating a ripple effect in
- 26:22Speaker 1: her own life, in her family, and beyond Why because
- 26:29Speaker 1: she said yes to God's legacy for her. For Jeanne,
- 26:36Speaker 1: wearing her soul on the outside is something she can
- 26:39Speaker 1: now do every single day, no matter where she is
- 26:43Speaker 1: or who she's with. Gloria, I can't imagine living my
- 26:47Speaker 1: life any other way. Thank you. Thank you for walking
- 26:51Speaker 1: with me on my journey and for helping me dare
- 26:58Speaker 1: to wear my soul on the outside now. I began
- 27:06Speaker 1: Jean's story with these lines from my poem song to Myself.
- 27:16Speaker 1: I want to know if you can look into the
- 27:21Speaker 1: eyes of the young woman who sleeps with fear each night,
- 27:27Speaker 1: the one who dared to walk away from the hands
- 27:31Speaker 1: that pummeled her. I want to know if you can
- 27:37Speaker 1: share her pain. You know, confronting and dealing with our
- 27:49Speaker 1: fears makes all the difference, doesn't it. If we let
- 27:53Speaker 1: fear hold us captive, it will steel our joy, it
- 27:58Speaker 1: will suck the life of our very bones. But when
- 28:02Speaker 1: we say hey, I'm stuck, I'm stuck. When we say
- 28:07Speaker 1: enough is enough, when we reach out for support so
- 28:11Speaker 1: we can confront and deal and face our fears. That's
- 28:18Speaker 1: when we begin the process of restoring ourselves, of restoring
- 28:23Speaker 1: our birthright, of restoring our love and faith, so we
- 28:27Speaker 1: can be true to ourselves and restore the amazing power
- 28:34Speaker 1: of our own story and the amazing power the healing
- 28:41Speaker 1: power of our own true voice. Well, I certainly hope
- 28:48Speaker 1: that this story about Gene and her learning journey has
- 28:51Speaker 1: inspired you today. I know it's inspired me. Now. I
- 28:57Speaker 1: want to share my entire poem with you so that
- 29:00Speaker 1: you can hear how Jean's story fits into the overall
- 29:04Speaker 1: context of the poem song. To myself, it doesn't matter
- 29:13Speaker 1: to me what you do or where you work. I
- 29:17Speaker 1: want to know who you are when the sun goes down,
- 29:22Speaker 1: and if you are willing to put everything on the
- 29:25Speaker 1: line to fulfill your soul's desire. It doesn't matter to
- 29:30Speaker 1: me how much bread you can afford to put on
- 29:33Speaker 1: your own table. I want to know if you will
- 29:37Speaker 1: need and wait and bake the bread and share your
- 29:42Speaker 1: blessings at somebody else's table. I want to know if
- 29:47Speaker 1: you can look into the eyes of the young woman
- 29:51Speaker 1: who sleeps with fear each night, the one who dared
- 29:56Speaker 1: to walk away from the hands that pummeled her. I
- 30:01Speaker 1: want to know if you can share her pain. It
- 30:07Speaker 1: doesn't matter to me what neighborhood you live in or
- 30:09Speaker 1: what kind of car you drive. I want to know
- 30:13Speaker 1: what drives you, what compels you to follow your soul's longing.
- 30:20Speaker 1: I want to know what pierces your heart, awakens you
- 30:24Speaker 1: at night, and inspires you to devote yourself to whomever
- 30:29Speaker 1: or whatever moves you. I want to know how many
- 30:34Speaker 1: times you've opened your heart and extended a hand to
- 30:39Speaker 1: your homeless sister or brother. I want to know if
- 30:44Speaker 1: you will sit in the quiet dark hours between midnight
- 30:50Speaker 1: and dawn listening to another's heart song. It doesn't matter
- 30:57Speaker 1: to me how many unspeakable secrets you have. I want
- 31:02Speaker 1: to know if you will share your secrets to liberate
- 31:06Speaker 1: your demons so they don't devour you or those you love.
- 31:13Speaker 1: I want to know if you will risk looking foolish
- 31:17Speaker 1: to embrace your bliss. I want to know if you
- 31:21Speaker 1: will grasp the sleeve of a nameless elder stumbling on
- 31:26Speaker 1: his way and lead him in from the cold. I
- 31:31Speaker 1: want to know if you will throw away your cloak
- 31:35Speaker 1: and show your heart, if you will dare to wear
- 31:39Speaker 1: your soul on the outside. It doesn't matter to me
- 31:46Speaker 1: how many mountains you've climbed or will climb. I want
- 31:50Speaker 1: to know if you've fallen down in the valley of despair.
- 31:55Speaker 1: I want to know if you've scarred your knees on
- 31:59Speaker 1: the stones of self abandonment. I want to know how
- 32:04Speaker 1: long you've been hidden in the shadows of hypocrisy, prejudice, addiction, abuse.
- 32:15Speaker 1: I want to know if you will stop to light
- 32:18Speaker 1: a candle and pray with others who will surely wander there.
- 32:27Speaker 1: It doesn't matter to me what you say you will
- 32:30Speaker 1: do for others. I want to know if you will
- 32:33Speaker 1: act with courage and conviction, if you will daily cradle
- 32:40Speaker 1: the frail hand of your mother when she no longer
- 32:44Speaker 1: knows your name. I want to know if you will
- 32:50Speaker 1: look into the hazel, gray, or ebony eyes of a
- 32:54Speaker 1: stranger and say yes yes, to affirm your sister, your brother, yourself.
- 33:06Speaker 1: I want to know if you will take the time
- 33:09Speaker 1: to be still, call the names and pass the cup
- 33:14Speaker 1: to honor the ancestors who cleared a path and broke
- 33:18Speaker 1: new ground for you and your children. It doesn't matter
- 33:26Speaker 1: to me that you have a past. I want to
- 33:29Speaker 1: know if you will celebrate your present, if you will
- 33:33Speaker 1: take a stand, declare yourself, sing I am boldly and
- 33:42Speaker 1: with rejoicing, not only to the stars at night, but
- 33:46Speaker 1: to anyone anywhere, without apologies or regrets. Wouldn't it be
- 34:01Speaker 1: wonderful if we could all take a stand and declare ourselves,
- 34:07Speaker 1: declare ourselves and sing I am boldly and with rejoicing,
- 34:12Speaker 1: declare ourselves by lifting up and celebrating the awesome, incredible
- 34:17Speaker 1: power of our own stories, our own true voice. Because
- 34:22Speaker 1: you know what, that's how God made us. That's how
- 34:25Speaker 1: God made us. He did not make us to cower
- 34:28Speaker 1: or to hide out, or to believe what the world
- 34:31Speaker 1: would have us, believe that we're missing something, that we're insufficient,
- 34:36Speaker 1: that were not enough. We are children of the most high.
- 34:42Speaker 1: We are made to stand up and be counted. And
- 34:48Speaker 1: when you can stand up and declare yourself, guess what,
- 34:52Speaker 1: you can help somebody else do the same, because you
- 34:55Speaker 1: are actually giving them permission. When you make that kind
- 34:59Speaker 1: of difference in your own life, you can make that
- 35:02Speaker 1: kind of difference in somebody else's life too. So that's
- 35:07Speaker 1: how you do it. That's how it's done, day by day,
- 35:11Speaker 1: step by step, moment by moment, smile by smile, every
- 35:15Speaker 1: single day three sixty five, twenty four to seven. Now
- 35:21Speaker 1: you can learn more about the ideas and the story
- 35:24Speaker 1: that I just shared with you today. You can also
- 35:28Speaker 1: find resources to equip and inspire you to make your
- 35:32Speaker 1: life count by visiting the Gloria Burgess website. That's Gloria
- 35:38Speaker 1: Burgess dot com. The Gloria Burgess website. And as I've
- 35:42Speaker 1: mentioned before, if you love to be inspired, you can
- 35:45Speaker 1: actually subscribe to my inspirations right on my website. Just
- 35:49Speaker 1: scroll down a little bit look on the right side
- 35:52Speaker 1: bar until you see the place to add your email
- 35:55Speaker 1: address to subscribe to my weekly inspirations. It's that each
- 36:01Speaker 1: week you will get a lovely image, a lovely photograph,
- 36:04Speaker 1: and a short quotation that inspires you. Now, if you
- 36:09Speaker 1: missed any part of this week's podcast, or last week's show,
- 36:14Speaker 1: or any show for that matter, you can listen at
- 36:16Speaker 1: your convenience. You can even listen on the go. Check
- 36:21Speaker 1: us out at www. Dot talknetwork radio dot com. Forward
- 36:27Speaker 1: Slash Hosts, Forward Slash Legacy Living Okay, that's www. Dot
- 36:35Speaker 1: talknetwork radio dot com. Forward Slash Hosts, Forward Slash Legacy living.
- 36:43Speaker 1: If you want to be the change you seek, be
- 36:47Speaker 1: sure to listen to this podcast again and again and
- 36:51Speaker 1: be sure to tell somebody. You can find me on iTunes, Audible, Alexa, SoundCloud, iHeart,
- 36:58Speaker 1: tune In, Spreaker, dot Com, Talk Network Radio, and so
- 37:02Speaker 1: many other places. You can also find me on LinkedIn
- 37:06Speaker 1: or Facebook and again. You can find me on Facebook
- 37:09Speaker 1: at Facebook dot com forward slash dr for doctor Dr
- 37:15Speaker 1: Gloria Burgess, pH D. Forward slash. You can also hear
- 37:20Speaker 1: and see me by visiting the ted x website and
- 37:24Speaker 1: listening to one of my ted talks. Just type in
- 37:27Speaker 1: my name, Gloria Burgess and find me there. Now. Before
- 37:31Speaker 1: I close today, I want to thank each of you
- 37:34Speaker 1: for tuning in to today's show for allowing me to
- 37:37Speaker 1: share a bit about my journey with what Legacy living
- 37:40Speaker 1: is all about, not just living and learning, but living
- 37:44Speaker 1: and learning and serving so that you make a difference
- 37:47Speaker 1: in your own life and in the lives of others.
- 37:51Speaker 1: It's all about being one purpose every single day. Three
- 37:56Speaker 1: sixty five twenty four seven. Legacy living is a powerful
- 38:02Speaker 1: way to make your life count. Once again, I want
- 38:07Speaker 1: to thank you for joining me for today's show. I'm
- 38:10Speaker 1: your host, Doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess, and this is Legacy Living,
- 38:17Speaker 1: Make your Life Count. Please join me again next time
- 38:22Speaker 1: right here on Talk Network Radio for another show of
- 38:26Speaker 1: Legacy Living, Make your Life Count. We're here again next
- 38:30Speaker 1: week Talk Network Radio. Don't just count the days in
- 38:36Speaker 1: your life. Make the days in your life count. That's
- 38:41Speaker 1: what Legacy Living is all about. Have a fantastic day
- 38:46Speaker 1: and remember make the days in your life count. God
- 38:51Speaker 1: bless that's our show today. I'm your host, Doctor Gloria
- 39:08Speaker 1: Gloria Burgess. I hope you'll join me again next time.
- 39:14Speaker 1: Until then, don't just count the days in your life.
- 39:18Speaker 1: Make the days in your life count. That's what legacy
- 39:22Speaker 1: Living is all about. Here's to you have a fantastic
- 39:27Speaker 1: day and be sure to make it a yes kind
- 39:30Speaker 1: of day. Remember to celebrate the music of your life.
- 39:38Speaker 1: Make the days in your life count.