Latest / Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess / Leading with Soul | Episode #352

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Leading with Soul | Episode #352 · Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess

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