Oprah Makes Me Tired

One of my favorite rewards for braving the crowds at CostCo is their amazing $1.50 hotdog and a soda paired with whatever magazine I've purchased at 30% off (at which point you have to purchase at least one). More often then not that magazine is Oprah (and/or InStyle).

(And no, I don't want to hear from anyone about 'do you know what is in a hotdog?'. I do, I don't care, and it's not the focus of this post so move on.)

The last several issues of the magazine have been titled: What's Your True Calling?, What's Your Next Chapter?, and now Imagine!. I know she wants to be inspirational and that she herself beat the odds with little or no help from anyone to get where she is and I DO respect that. It just makes me really really tired. I read the columns by earnest authors, take the quizzes, and read the articles about women who believed in themselves and became millionaires without having to sell their souls (or sleep with a skeevy old dude like some of the Real Housewives).

I've made a vision board, chanted affirmations as I drove to work, expressed gratitude to the universe every night before falling asleep, asked and believed and so far there’s been no great awakening of knowing what is my purpose in life. An Aha moment for me is finding a box of cookies in the pantry when I thought we were out.

I’m left feeling decidedly un-Oprah like. I should want to be: fighting to find solutions to climate change, working in the gulf  cleaning oil drenched wildlife, or helping to empower little girls so they don’t end up like Lindsey Lohan or on Teen Moms. Instead, all I really want is a nice little part-time job that pays reasonably well where my degree and experience will be respected and appreciated. That, and to have health benefits, be financially secure, and travel to Tuscany/Costa Rica/Paris before I need a walker. I'm not sure any of those count as a purpose but they're all I've come up with so far.

So I may have to take a break because I'm pretty sure I can't absorb anymore Oprah-isms without starting to hate myself. Oprah, you keep doing what you do but I need a nap.