"Living in the moment ..."

Price: $2.95
Issued: Monthly except June - August
Website: oprah.com
Reviewed: July-Aug Issue

"Living in the moment brings you a sense of reverence for all of life's blessings." - Oprah

This issue of O magazine is dedicated to living in the moment. Inside Oprah gives a couple of free gifts. One being four postcards featuring Oprah's favorite quotations about living in the moment: "You only live once - but if you work it right, once is enough." - Joe E. Lewis, Comedian; "Accept what people offer. Drink their milkshakes. Take their love." - Wally Lamb, Author; "Nothing is as far away as one minute ago." - Jim Bishop, Newspaper Columnist and Author; and "As we look deeply within, we understand our perfect balance. There is no fear of the cycle of birth, life and death. For when you stand in the present moment, you are timeless." - Rodney Yee, Yoga Teacher.

The other gift is a pull-out page titled "Something To Think About". It explains that to experience real happiness, you must first connect with why you feel what you feel - even when that's painful. Pain is information: It leads you to what is keeping you from becoming your best self. So, three questions are put to you, with space for you to write your answers.

Question number one is: "Recall a time when you felt an intense emotion, such as anger or jealousy. What was behind that emotion? Fear? Disappointment?

Question number two is: "Ask yourself: Why, exactly, am I afraid or disappointed? Really contemplate what you're feeling and why."

Question number three is: "What can you do to begin dealing with the hurt beneath your emotions, like your fear of rejection?

This kind of work on ourselves is very painful, which is one reason most of us run away from it. I suffered most of my life from being a people pleaser and when I didn't get in return what I thought I deserved after doing something particularly nice for someone, I was left feeling pretty low, unappreciated and unloved. I finally had to learn that if I had to try that hard to get the strokes I needed from the people I was with, these people really didn't care for me in return. Life is too short to waste ourselves on those people who don't really care for us. So, I really believe it is important for each and every one of us to take a deep breath and really analyze ourselves and find out who we really are and what we really want from life so that we can make what time we have on Earth count.

Oprah has become so much more than just a talk show host. She truly has become a guru, a teacher and a guide to helping us all become the best we can be.

This magazine is her next step in getting across to us her message and I was very pleased with it. Firstly, it is very large and quite thick for a magazine that only costs $2.95. It is quite advertisement laden, but not as much as I expected. The products in the ads are geared to better living, health and beauty.

The first section is titled "This Month's Mission" and is a calendar (of sorts) with 18 entries of things to help you "Live in the Moment" by Sarah Ban Breathnach. Things like "Summer is here-delight in it! Experience, appreciate and revel in Mother Nature's sensations: freshly mowed grass, a concerto of crickets, a juicy peach, kids laughing, stars twinkling."

There is a section on Contributors and another on Your Opinions with letters, both through e-mail and via the Post Office from the readers telling their opinion of the magazine.

This issue has an interview with Jane Fonda by Oprah, herself. It is fascinating and Jane tells the truth about her marriage, the story behind her faith - and what she fears most. She, too, suffered from "The Disease to Please" and was a "people pleaser" but has finally found herself and says that she finally has found her voice again. Excellent interview, in my opinion.

There are many recipes, great articles on health, beauty, fashion and how to get fit. Articles on sleep, meditation, why you must have time alone, creating a sanctuary in your own yard or garden and vacation tips.

There's an article called "Can You Get 20/20 Vision?" by Emma F. Segal about the new laser eye surgery and whether or not it is right for you. Is LASIK (laser in situ keratomileusis) truly safe and can it help you? It answers 12 most commonly asked questions to give you a more informed opinion on whether you should consider having this done or not.

Oprah tells us how you can stop saying yes, when you mean no. Carly Simon shares her Polaroid diary with us. Gary Zukav shows you how to see with reverence in his article "Soul Story". Marianne Williamson has a section called "Illuminations" to get us to worry less and live now.

There is a great article titled: "Phenomenal Woman: How she made peace with a tragic past" The daughter of Sunny Von Bulow turned her grief into good. By Nima Isham.

There's an article called "Why You Don't Want to Have SEX". This is fascinating. Seems we women can sometimes get too darned tired and stressed. We pre-menopausal women suffer with our hormones, other women are just plain depressed and don't even know it. Resentment is one of the biggest things, especially with working moms who have so much to do each and every day and don't get enough help from the spouse. Hmm...

There is a section titled "Bookshelf - Books That Made a Difference". This issue has Hillary Clinton revealing some of her favorites in her collection at home. She says, "When I find myself with a free hour during the day, I try to sneak in some reading." Her selections are: "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott; "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver; "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker; "The Clan of the Cave Bear" by Jean M. Auel; "Wild Swans" by Jung Chang; "West With the Night" by Beryl Markham and "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan.

All in all, this was a very positive and upbeat magazine and I really enjoyed it and actually DID feel better after finishing it. I definitely will buy it again. Oprah has a winner!