The real question is, are we brave enough to want our heart’s desire? Are we daring enough to believe that we can have, be, or do what we want?
– Sheri Salata, The Beautiful No
I recently read Sheri Salata’s book, The Beautiful No: And Other Tales of Trial, Transcendence, and Transformation.
If you haven’t heard of Sheri, you have most likely heard of her boss — Oprah Winfrey. Sheri was the executive producer for The Oprah Winfrey Show, and then co-president of the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Yup. In short, she pretty much had *THE* dream job followed by another dream job.
Then she quit.
Why? She was unhealthy and unhappy. She was 100 pounds overweight and single, with no relationship in sight. She was in her 50s and knew something had to give. That something turned out to be her job.
I devoured her book.
Here was someone who had access to all the great thinkers, leaders, and healers of our time, but she still avoided taking the difficult step of putting herself first and making room for her own health and happiness.
“I could recite the tenets of best-life living backward and forward. I could produce the hell out of transformation. I just continued to avoid producing the transformation of my own life.”
– Sheri Salata, The Beautiful No
That’s what I’ve done for years. I’ve defined myself by what I produce at work, how much money I make, the clothes I wear, the house I own. But no matter how many milestones I achieve – Bigger house! Nicer wardrobe! Cooler job! Happy clients! — it hasn’t made my soul happy. I’ve felt lost, unfulfilled, and confused because I was living the life I thought I was “supposed” to be living.
What Sheri did takes courage. Yes, she had the means to walk away from a fabulous, well-paying, prestigious job. So, on some level, it was “easier” for her to walk away. But walking away and leaving your professional identity behind — especially as a middle-aged woman — takes guts.
For me, starting this blog takes guts. I want to explore an aspect of myself — my fascination with The Woo — that is outside the bounds of the person I always thought I would be. It means giving up the life I thought I was supposed to have to live the life I was meant to have.
I hope I’m ready to produce the hell out of my own personal transformation.