Latest / Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess / Forgive and Set Yourself Free | Episode #353

Transcript

Forgive and Set Yourself Free | Episode #353 · Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess

0:21
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 adviser. Welcome to Legacy Living, Make your Life Count. I'm delighted
0:45
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
0:54
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
1:53
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 r g e ss dot com
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Again, that's Gloria Burgess dot com. Or you can visit me on Facebook
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and you can find me on Facebook right here at Facebook dot com. Forward
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slash d R for doctor Dr 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 up
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who said, you know what, I want more in my life. I
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want to be more, I want to know more, and I want to
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serve more. I hope these stories about people who have transformed their lives will
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inspire you as they have inspired me. And if you are inspired, I
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will share more about how you too can make that same kind of shift in
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your own life. Later in today's program, I'm going to share some resources
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with you so you can do exactly that, so you can equip yourself to
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make the kind of difference in your life that you will hear about in this
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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 that
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mean, Well, it means daring to live out loud. So now it's
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time to sit back and relax. Make yourself a cup of coffee or tea,
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or get yourself a nice tall glass of water, put your feet up,
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relax in your favorite chair, or put your earbuds on and go for
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a walk. Right, and don't forget to take notes, okay, because
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you're going to have to take notes today. You're going to get a lot
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of great information and we're going to have an amazing time. Now, before
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I jump into today's show, I want to take just a moment to welcome
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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 a
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very special welcome to those of you who are joining my show, or if
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you're joining Talk Network Radio for the very first time, you're in for a
4:36
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, or
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some people say daring to live out loud. A very important topic so you
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can enjoy the life you love, a life of joy, and a life
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of service. One of my favorite poets, Muriel Rickheiser, reminds us that
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the world is not made up of atoms. Oh, no, the world
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is not made up of atoms. Well, if it's not made up of
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atoms, then what is it made of Well, I'm so glad you asked
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right. It's made up of stories. Our world is made up of stories.
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I just love that. Now, let's just think about that for a
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moment. No matter where you live in the world, you hear stories,
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right. You hear stories from the time you're born. You hear stories as
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a little babe in arms. Right. Stories you hear around the dinner table
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or around the hearth. We hear stories when we go to school, stories
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in the lunch room, stories when we're ready to leave school, when we
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were ready to graduate and perhaps move on to college. And then when we
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apply to college, they ask us to share stories about why we want to
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go to college and what we hope to accomplish there. And then once we
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arrive at college, we hear stories about the college or the university that we're
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attending, and then more stories as we move through our studies and then into
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the workplace, and there we hear story after story after story. Stories are
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a very big part of our lives, so much so we don't even realize
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their presence or their power in our lives. Sometimes. Did you know that
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stories are how we make meaning, how we make sense of the world.
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Stories help us chart and navigate the many waters of our lives. They help
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us as we move through the many moments, hours, and days of our
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lives. In cultures all over the world, stories are revered as medicine,
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stories as medicine. Now what exactly does that mean. Well, stories are
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called medicine and revered as such because they help to ground us and when we
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lose our way, as we often do in our fast paced, ever evolving
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world. Stories are the medicine that enable us, that help us to come
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back home. Come back home, which means realigning with ourselves and coming back
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into harmony with who we are and whose we are, with who we belong
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to. Now. This is true whether we're talking about an individual, a
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family, a community, a team, or an organization. I was with
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a client just a couple of days ago, and our specific focus was on
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team building. Now, the resources we use to get to team building,
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to get from here to their were stories. In other words, we took
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a look at what needed to be surfaced, meaning what stories needed to be
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surfaced and made visible to be discussed so that we could become intentional about doing
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what was necessary to become the best team possible. Right, we wanted to
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put our best foot forward, so to speak, to do our best work
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in serving the organization's stakeholders. So, once again, stories are powerful.
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Medicine. Poet and author Mark Nepo reminds us that stories are small doses of
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what matters, and he says, it is the telling that releases the medicine,
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the telling that soothes our pain and shares our joy. I just love
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that. I'm going to repeat it. It is in the telling of the
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stories, right that releases the medicine, the telling that soothes our pain and
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shares our joy. In the key Swahili language, the words habarigani mean what's
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the news? Or what's happening now. In this podcast and in several others,
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I will share with you small doses of what's happening now, of what
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matters in the lives of everyday, ordinary people, including some people who are
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very close to me. In fact, I want to share one particular story
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with you today, and this story that I will share breathes the timeless,
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universal truths of what I call the Seven Sacred Promises. They are truths that
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mentor us in ways of being that are older than time, Truths that breathe
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just beneath the surface of our everyday, busy lives. These are the truths
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that we make visible in our life. We can actually draw on them with
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conscious intention to shape our daily choices, actions, and decisions. So what
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are the seven Sacred Promises? They are gratitude, faith, love, vision,
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integrity, creative action, and legacy. Now you hear me talk about
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all of these promises frequently on this podcast in one way or another. Today
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you will hear more about those sacred promises through an inspiring story I'm going to
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share with you. This story is a small dose of what matters, and
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it's taken from some of the big themes in one of my poems, and
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that poem is called song to Myself. Song to Myself. Now, all
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of the stories that I'm going to share with you over the next several weeks,
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and this story in particular, are about people who are just like you
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and me. Now, how is that? Because we are all people who
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care. We care about ourselves, we care about one another, We care
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about leaving the world a little better off than the way we found it.
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As stewards of the future, we dare to wear our souls on the outside,
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to be in right relationship with ourself and to be in right relationship with
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the people around us. As instruments of soul, we sound the way for
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others in our immediate circles and beyond. Did you know that you you are
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a magnificent story And as you live your life, you are actually painting.
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You are painting on the canvas of your soul. Now, at the end
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of my sharing these inspiring stories over the next few weeks, I'm going to
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invite you to give voice to your own story so you two can respond to
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that important question, Habarighani, what's happening now? And I want to inspire
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you to draw from the deep wellspring of your life and the transformative power of
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your own true voice. Until then, I trust that you will be moved
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by these stories of hope, radiance, and celebration as you encounter each individual
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soul. I want you to feel that sweet shimmer of your own story and
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hear the resonance and powerful medicine of your own true voice. I trust that
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you will bask in the joy and inspiration of the stories, allowing them to
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illuminate your sacred life path. I also trust that you will accept the gifts
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they offer so that you can pass these stories on and faithfully serve the people
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around you by lighting the path for someone else. So again, I invite
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you 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
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the 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. I want to
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know if you can look into the eyes of the young woman who sleeps with
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fear each night, the one who dared to walk away from the hands that
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pummeled her. I want to know if you can share her pain now I
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want you to meet a very special person. She's a dear friend. Her
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name is Jeanne. Jeanne is a woman who used to sleep with fear each
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night, but more than anything, she wanted her life back. She was
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tired of being held captive by fear. When she was ready to dare to
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wear her soul on the outside, when she was really ready to live out
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loud, she asked me to work with her as her coach. Here is
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Jeanne's amazing story. When we first started working together, Jeanne was just completing
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a six year learning journey. During those years, she was learning what she
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needed to become a hospice professional. She devoted herself to developing the necessary skills,
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enriching her character qualities, and learning about spiritual practices to become the best
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hospice care provider she could be. At that time, her dream was to
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coach and train other hospice workers. In fact, she wanted to start her
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own business dedicated to growing other hospice professionals, overseeing and caring for their personal,
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professional and spiritual development. Jeanne sailed through her six years of training and
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confidently worked for several years as a hospice worker for a large healthcare network.
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However, when she began to seriously consider launching her own business, she simply
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froze. In fact, she was absolutely immobilized, paralyzed with fear, utterly
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crippled, stopped dead in her tracks by her rather loud chorus of inner critics.
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Now, most of us have experienced something like this at some point in
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our own lives. Thankfully, and to her credit, Jean recognized that she
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was stuck and she was simply unable to move forward with her dream, with
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her personal vision. So she reached out and sought coaching for herself. Together,
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we created a plan for her so she could delve more deeply into what
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she needed to make a shift, to make a difference in her life.
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We also focused on specific practices she would need to cultivate and integrate into her
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life. We decided to focus on primarily one of the practices. We also
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included another one, but the primary focus was gratitude, and then the other
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focus was on sanctuary. Now, Jean's first task was to face her fear,
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right to confront her chorus of critical voices. That meant she had to
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turn off the switch to actually disengage that chorus of critics. Then she had
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to commit to escort them out of her life once and for all. In
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addition to other spiritual resources, Jane committed to a gratitude practice that included appreciation,
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compassion, and forgiveness. Now, when I spoke with Jeanne to learn
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about what's happening on her journey, I greeted her with a barigani, Hey,
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what's the news? Listen as she tells us. More, as Jeanne
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shares with us a small dose of what matters in my practice of gratitude,
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I learned that appreciation, compassion, and forgiveness have presence, and each of
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these spiritual practices has a shape, a texture, a weight, and color
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which continues to instruct and guide me. Jeanne's courageous and loving confrontation of her
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inner critics took many, many months of dedicated, focused, faithful work on
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her part. Her focus and faithfulness ultimately led her to a significant breakthrough.
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During one of our coaching sessions, she said, Gloria, this was some
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of the most difficult yet joyous work I've ever done to bring closure to her.
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Many months of working on reparation and forgiveness, Jeanne created a ceremony,
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a very special ceremony of gratitude, to honor her past, to reinvigorate her
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presence, and to celebrate her new found freedom to now move boldly towards her
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dream. She gave me permission to share part of her ceremony with you,
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Jean says to night. I create a ceremony to burn the hateful, negative
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words of the choir in my mind. I bring forward any one who has
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a voice in this choir. One by one, I honor, I lovingly
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thank, and I let go of the voices that don't serve to lift me
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up. As I let go of each voice, I pick up a small
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slip of paper with that person's name on it, my painful memory associated with
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him or her, and a positive affirmation to replace the negative painful memory.
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Then I burn the piece of paper in a special vessel I call it my
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burning bowl. With each piece of burning paper, I release the pain,
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sadness, hurt and anger from my spirit and from the cells of my body.
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With each piece of burning paper, I turn off the volume of a
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hurtful voice and turn up the voice of my capable, strong, resilient self.
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With each piece of burning paper, I say these words in reverence and
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love. I thank you for your presence in my life. You didn't intend
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to hurt the soul of my child, but she was injured. She carries
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your words with her. I know that I'm blessed by the good and the
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bad, and I pray that the blessings of gratitude will continue to be revealed.
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Now I return you into the ground of your life lived by you.
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As today, I am free of your judgments and grief. I am free
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of the burden within my soul. Then, jean said, I imagine myself
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putting a rose over the heart and in the hands of my beloves. After
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the flame shrinks to a faint glow. I stand in my dimly lit room,
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and I allow my soul to radiate outward for all to see. I
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am free from the voices of pain, sadness, hurt, and anger.
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I am free to believe in my goodness, my abilities, and my connection
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to God. All is deep, all is mine. As my spirit heals,
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I can shine. I will open to the healing of others. I
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am a beacon of light into this world. Over the next few months,
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and really during the past few years, Jeanne continued to be blessed by new
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insights and revelations. As her journey unfolds, she continues to be reminded that
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new roses will indeed grow from her old wounds. She actually perceives their opening
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buds in the questions she allowed herself to live into. What are those questions?
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Well, here are some of the questions. She asked herself. What
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reward did I receive from the messages I chose to keep with me all these
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years? Another question? Do I want that reward to control my life?
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Now? What spiritual practice will I follow instead? As Jean continues to enrich
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her learning about gratitude, she rejoices and revels in the rich harmonies of appreciation,
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compassion, and forgiveness. One afternoon, while we were enjoying coffee,
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she shared some of her reflections and learning with me, Gloria, these past
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few months, I've been very silent inside, sitting with God in patience and
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wonder. I am beginning to understand what others see in me, a person
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with a huge heart full of love for others, And now I am growing
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in love for myself. May I continue on this sacred path until I can
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feel that same respect and love for myself as I have for others, and
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to feel it with ease and grace. May I continue to enjoy the full
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measure of this sanctuary of silence within my soul. May I continue to celebrate
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the spirit of God within me and feel Love's holy light within my soul.
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Shortly after her gratitude ceremony, Jean composed this praise poem to celebrate herself and
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the healing power of gratitude and sanctuary. She says, I celebrate, I
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celebrate. I celebrate the spirit of God within me. My voice sings loud,
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my voice sings true, my voice sings of me. I celeb rate,
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I celebrate. I celebrate the spirit of God within me. I feel
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the light within my soul. I feel the voice of me. I celebrate.
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I celebrate. I celebrate the spirit of God within me. I am
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what I was created for. I am the woman I am. I am
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a woman of sizhe. I am ego free. I celebrate. I celebrate.
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I celebrate the spirit of God within me. I am free. I
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am free of the voices within me. There is only room for me.
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I celebrate. I celebrate. I celebrate the spirit of God within me.
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I just love that story. Jeanne's miracles continue to flow, creating a ripple
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effect in her own life, in her family, and beyond why because she
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said yes to God's legacy for her. For Jeanne, wearing her soul on
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the outside is something she can now do every single day, no matter where
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she is or who she's with. Gloria, I can't imagine living my life
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any other way. Thank you, Thank you for walking with me on my
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journey and for helping me dare to wear my soul on the outside now.
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I began Jean's story with these lines from my poem song to Myself. I
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want to know if you can look into the eyes of the young woman who
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sleeps with fear each night, the one who dared to walk away from the
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hands that pummeled her. I want to know if you can share her pain.
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You know, confronting and dealing with our fears makes all the difference,
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doesn't it. If we let fear hold us captive, it will steal our
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joy, it will suck the life out of our very bones. But when
28:02
we say hey, I'm stuck, I'm stuck. When we say enough is
28:07
enough, when we reach out for support, so we can confront and deal
28:15
and face our fears. That's when we begin the process of restoring ourselves,
28:22
of restoring our birthright, of restoring our love and faith, so we can
28:26
be true to ourselves and restore the amazing power of our own story and the
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amazing power the healing power of our own true voice. Well, I certainly
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hope that this story about Jane and her learning journey has inspired you today.
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I know it's inspired me. Now. I want to share my entire poem
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with you so that you can hear how Jean's story fits into the overall context
29:04
of the poem song. To myself, it doesn't matter to me what you
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do or where you work. I want to know who you are when the
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sun goes down, and if you are willing to put everything on the line
29:26
to fulfill your soul's desire. It doesn't matter to me how much bread you
29:32
can afford to put on your own table. I want to know if you
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will nead and wait and bake the bread and share your blessings at somebody else's
29:44
table. I want to know if you can look into the eyes of the
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young woman who sleeps with fear each night, the one who dared to walk
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away from the hands that pummeled her. I want to know if you can
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share her pain. It doesn't matter to me what neighborhood you live in or
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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 pierces
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your heart, awakens you at night, and inspires you to devote yourself to
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whomever or whatever moves you. I want to know how many times you've opened
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your heart and extended a hand to your homeless sister or brother. I want
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to know if you will sit in the quiet dark hours between midnight and dawn
30:51
listening to another's heart song. It doesn't matter to me how many unspeakable secrets
31:00
you have. I want to know if you will share your secrets to liberate
31:06
your demons so they don't devour you or those you love. I want to
31:12
know if you will risk looking foolish to embrace your bliss. I want to
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know if you will grasp the sleeve of a nameless elder stumbling on his way
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and lead him in from the cold. I want to know if you will
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throw away your cloak and show your heart, if you will dare to wear
31:38
your soul on the outside. It doesn't matter to me how many mountains you've
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climbed or will climb. I want to know if you've fallen down in the
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valley of despair. I want to know if you've scarred your knees on the
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stones of self abandonment. I want to know how long you've been hidden in
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the shadows of hypocrisy, prejudice, addiction, abuse. I want to know
32:15
if you will stop to light a candle and pray with others who will surely
32:22
wander there. It doesn't matter to me what you say you will do for
32:30
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 longer
32:44
knows your name. I want to know if you will look into the hazel,
32:52
gray, or ebony eyes of a stranger and say yes, yes,
33:00
to affirm your sister, your brother, yourself. I want to know if
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you will take the time to be still, call the names and pass the
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cup to honor the ancestors who cleared a path and broke new ground for you
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and your children. It doesn't matter to me that you have a past.
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I want to know if you will celebrate your present, if you will take
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a stand, declare yourself, sing, I am boldly and with rejoicing,
33:43
not only to the stars at night, but to anyone anywhere, without apologies
33:50
or regrets. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all take a stand and
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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 own
34:19
stories, our own true voice. Because you know what, that's how God
34:22
made us. That's how God made us. He did not make us to
34:27
cower or to hide out, or to believe what the world would have us,
34:31
believe that we're missing something, that we're insufficient, that we're not enough.
34:37
We are children of the most high. We are made to stand up
34:45
and be counted. And when you can stand up and declare yourself, guess
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what, you can help somebody else do the same, because you are actually
34:54
giving them permission. When you make that kind of difference in your own life,
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you can make that kind of difference in somebody else's life too. So
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that's how you do it. That's how it's done day by day, step
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by step, moment by moment, smile by smile, every single day,
35:15
three sixty five, twenty four seven. Now you can learn more about the
35:22
ideas and the story that I just shared with you today. You can also
35:28
find resources to equip and inspire you to make your life count by visiting the
35:34
Gloria Burgess website. That's Gloria Burgess dot com. The Gloria Burgess website.
35:40
And as I've mentioned before, if you love to be inspired, you can
35:45
actually subscribe to my inspirations right on my website. Just scroll down a little
35:50
bit look on the right side bar until you see the place to add your
35:54
email address to subscribe to my weekly inspirations. It's that temple. Each week
36:00
you will get a lovely image, a lovely photograph, and a short quotation
36:06
that inspires you. Now, if you missed any part of this week's podcast,
36:12
or last week's show, or any show for that matter, you can
36:15
listen at your convenience. You can even listen on the go. Check us
36:21
out at www Dot Talk network radio dot com. Forward Slash hosts, Forward
36:29
Slash Legacy Living Okay, that's www. Dot Talk network radio dot com.
36:37
Forward Slash hosts Forward Slash Legacy Living. If you want to be the change
36:45
you seek, be sure to listen to this podcast again and again and be
36:51
sure to tell somebody. You can find me on iTunes, Audible, Alexa,
36:55
SoundCloud, iHeart, tune Inspreaker, dot Com, Talk Network Radio,
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and so many other places. You can also find me on LinkedIn or Facebook.
37:07
And again, you can find me on Facebook at Facebook dot Com forward
37:12
slash dr for doctor Dr Gloria Burgess, pH D. Forward Slash. You
37:19
can also hear and see me by visiting the ted x website and listening to
37:24
one of my ted talks. Just type in my name, Gloria Burgess and
37:28
find me there. Now. Before I close today, I want to thank
37:32
each of you for tuning in to today's show, for allowing me to share
37:37
a bit about my journey with what legacy living is all about, not just
37:42
living and learning, but living and learning and serving so that you make a
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difference in your own life and in the lives of others. It's all about
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being one purpose every single day. Three sixty five twenty four seven. Legacy
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Living is a powerful way to make your life count. Once again, I
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want to thank you for joining me for today's show. I'm your host,
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doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess, and this is Legacy Living, Make your Life Count.
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Please join me again next time right here on Talk Network Radio for another
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show of Legacy Living, Make your Life Count. We're here again next week
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Talk Network Radio. Don't just count the days in your life. Make the
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days in your life count. That's what Legacy Living is all about. Have
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a fantastic day and remember make the days in your life count. God bless
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that's our show today. I'm your host, doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess. I
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hope you'll join me again next time. Until then, don't just count the
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days in your life. Make the days in your life count. That's what
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legacy Living is all about. Here's to you. Have a fantastic day and
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be sure to make it a yes kind of day. Remember to celebrate the
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music of your life. Make the days in your life count.