An Afternoon with Oprah
Live Your Best Life

Written by Troops 689, 653 and 557, Carolina Low Country

On February 25, Girl Scouts from the Girl Scouts of Carolina Council were invited to a private brunch with Oprah, and an invitation to watch in person her "Live Your Best Life Tour" at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center.

Brunching with the Stars

Oprah and special guest Dominique Dawes, the uniquely ME! spokeswoman and Olympic Gold medalist, met Girl Scouts at Charleston Place, a swank hotel in Charleston, S.C., where they had brunch in the ballroom.

In waltzed Oprah Winfrey herself, flanked by her entourage. She strolled through the doors with her shoes in hand. Immediately, her photographer suggested that we all take a group picture, but Oprah said she wanted to do individual pictures. Everyone ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the chance to take a picture with Oprah.

Oprah poses for a picture with Girls Scouts and staff from Carolina Low Country Council, in the ballroom of Charleston Place, a swank hotel in South Carolina.

Gabbing about the Gold

Oprah took the time to talk with each Girl Scout individually about their Girl Scout Gold Awards. The girls talked about themselves and their projects, and what they were doing on the local level with "courage, confidence and character to help make the world a better place." Oprah seemed very impressed!

Better Than a Rock Concert

After Oprah had brunch with the Girl Scouts, she left to get ready for her two hour show. When Oprah emerged again, she was on the stage of the North Charleston Performing Arts Center in a beautiful pink dress with black buttons down the front. The crowd went wild. Caroline, 18 from Troop 689, said, "Oprah's show was two hours of pure inspiration. It was better than a rock concert!"

Oprah's Words of Wisdom

Oprah told us about her life, about the challenges that she faced and the ways in which she overcame obstacles to make her dreams come true. She spoke about the importance of living a life of purpose. She said, "When you begin to live your life with purpose, you will have the power of the whole universe behind you. True purpose comes from you following your own passion, the only courage you need is the courage to follow your dreams."

She also spoke about the troubles she faced in her own life and how they were only tests of her faith. Each test she was given only made her stronger. Overall, she reinforced the women in the audience with the belief that they can overcome anything, race, gender or disability, and become whoever they want to be. She told us that loving yourself and all of those around you will assist in guiding you through troubled times. If something discouraging occurs, cry, pick yourself back off the ground and continue with life. Life may never be the same, but when you adjust to it, you can find new joys and even rediscover some old ones. Don't measure yourself against others, just be yourself and love what you are doing. If you don't love what you are doing, you should find something else to do.

"I truly believe that the things Oprah said to her audience that day affected everyone in the crowd. I left the auditorium feeling confident and ready to experience anything that came my way."—Caledonia, 16

Live Your Best Life—Oprah Style

Here are some tips from Oprah herself on how to live your best life:

• Every night, before you go to sleep, think of five things you are grateful for. It could be a friend or a family member, a talent that you have or something good that happened to you that day. But every night, think about five things in your life that make it better and make it special.

• Believe in the possibility of what could be. You can do anything you set your mind to.

• Live life with intention. Think to yourself, "What is the real reason I am doing something?" and make sure that intention and reason is positive and helping you move towards your goals.

Parting Gifts

Everyone was given a goodie bag filled with sunglasses, chocolates and stuff as they left. Caledonia added that it was not the material gifts that were the most expensive that day; it was the gift of beauty that Oprah instilled in all who attended this special event.

Celebrating Dream Teams Calling all girls 8 to 17 who have overcome a challenging self-esteem situation with the help of your mom, relative or a female friend. Send your story and photo for a chance to be featured in O, The Oprah Magazine. 50 entries will be awarded a limited edition of the "Beautiful Patch" in partnership with Girl Scouts of the USA, O, The Oprah Magazine and Dove. The 50 winners will also receive a selection of Dove products, a chance to appear on the Campaign for Real Beauty (www.campaignforrealbeauty.com) and O, The Oprah Magazine (www.omagazine.info) websites, and a chance to be featured in O, The Oprah Magazine print edition. The judges will consider your photo, essay and how you worked with an adult to overcome a challenging self-esteem situation. Entries must be received by May 26. Three Steps to Enter Tell us about your self-esteem story (100 words or less). What was the self-esteem challenge about? Who did you work with to overcome the challenge? What was the result? What did you learn from it? Take an original picture of yourself and the adult you worked with to overcome your self-esteem challenge. Ask the person you're photographing if it's OK. You may use any kind of camera—digital, disposable or film. Or you can send in a photo you already have! Your photo can be color or black and white, but it must be no smaller than 3 inches by 5 inches and no larger than 5 inches by 7 inches, and it must be taken by yourself no more than six months prior to entry submission. Send in your photo and essay with an entry form. Download the entry form, fill it out and write your essay in the space provided. Then get the adult in your picture and your parent or guardian to sign it. Write your name, address and the name of the adult pictured in your photo on the back of the photo. Mail the completed entry form and photo to: Dove Become a Dream Team Contest P.O. Box 1708 Sandusky, OH 44871-1708

---

uniquely ME! THE GIRL SCOUT/DOVE SELF-ESTEEM PROGRAM was established in the fall of 2001 to boost self-esteem among girls ages 8 to 17. The uniquely ME! resources are available for all girls.