Social Class According to Oprah

Recently I was able to sit down, at last, and watch a few taped episodes of Oprah. I don’t know what it is about her, but I will certainly say that the message I heard when I watched is the message I needed to hear at that particular time. One show was about social class and how we tend to categorize ourselves. The guests ranged from a news anchor who lost his job, to a corporate executive who lost his six-figure Wall Street job and became Mr. Mom. There are lessons to be learned from all of the stories. I want to share what I learned from this episode:

1. Your job is what you do for a living; it is not your life. Most of the guests on the program talked about the things that they bought with the money they were making. Shoes, vacations and fancy homes they had been able to afford. The resounding lesson, they all realized, is that it can all be gone in a flash. They realized that the most important things in their lives were the people in them, and not the position they held.

2. Remove labels. It is easy to consider yourself middle-class, upper class, etc. The most important thing that we should focus on is letting go of labels and concentrate on being a well-rounded person, a member of the “human” class.

3. Decide to follow your passion. Most of us have been impacted by a downturn in the economy, but that should not stop us from moving forward and from following our passions. The out-of-work news anchor job always wanted to be a veterinarian assistant. He took the initiative to pursue his desire, and now, although his pay is significantly less per year, he looks forward to getting up every day and doing what he loves. He is following his passion.

4. Don’t give up. It is never too late to learn a new skill, enhance your education, or take up something new. In times like these we have an opportunity to do something different, to get out of our comfort zones and make a difference. We have the opportunity to follow our passion.

So what is your social class?