I'm Oprah Winfrey. Welcome to Super Soul Conversations, the podcast. I believe that one of

the most valuable gifts you can give yourself is time, taking time to be more fully present.

Your journey to become more inspired and connected to the deeper world around us starts right

now.

One of my favorite questions to ask on Super Soul is, what is the lesson that took you the

longest to learn? The responses are always thoughtful, unique, and deeply personal. My

own answer to that question has taken a lifetime to learn. I've struggled with my weight for

much of my adult life, and I now realize I've been lying to myself about it for just

as long. Lying is something I abhor, and lying to yourself is the worst. The deepest

part of myself I think I always knew that I was using food to repress my feelings. Any

hint of discomfort or agitation that could lead to confrontation or rejection or anyone

being upset with me would cause me to eat. And after talking to so many people on the

Oprah Winfrey show and Super Soul Sunday, I knew my emotional eating stem from a childhood

spent getting punished for expressing my feelings. After a few weapons, as they were called

in my day, I learned quickly how to push my emotions down. I understood, even as a six

year old and a five year old and a four year old, that my feelings would not be validated.

So even though I knew the root of my weight issues, I only recently discovered how to

fix them. As a spiritual seeker, I understand that this journey requires you to not only

embrace all that is whole and good in your life, but also to continually examine the long,

buried wounds hidden beneath your carefully crafted surface. This is what I mean when

I say, turn your wounds into wisdom. It turns out when it comes to my issues with weight,

I need it to take a bit of my own advice. Despite the freedom I felt in forgiving those

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