Maria Shriver-Shwarzenegger(sp?)

Yesterday afternoon while I was watching Chaz and Skylar, I landed on the Oprah show as I flipped through the channels. I had literally not seen 5 minutes of Oprah since probably 2006 which is funny to me since I used to LOVE watching Oprah. Anyway...she had Maria Shriver (whom I will refer to as MS)on as a guest speaking about her new book and a recent speach she made (I think, there were two kids in the room). I DID catch one suprising/intriquing tidbit though in the 5 minutes I watched. She spoke, hold-back tears, about a lesson she has just learned at the age of 51. The lesson she learned was that MS was not defined by what she did. She had grown up in the Kennedy family who she says had the philosophy of "go, go, go, do, do, do, be, be, be something important." When she lost her job as a TV journalist and became "1st lady" to the Governor of California she went through an identity crisis. She was no longer the one in the spotlight...she was playing 2nd-fiddle and she did not know how to exist that way. Eventually she learned how to BE mother, to really get to know her children, to listen, to be a mother to HER ailing mom, to listen, to just be.
I thought, how sad. This is a lady of many wordly accomplishments, fame, fortune and she had gone 51 years of her life thinking those things define her. How sad.
I am SO thankful, so blessed beyond measure that I had parents who loved me no matter if I succeeded or failed, parents who pushed me to never be lazy, to be a productive member of society, but to never let my job or success or other people define me and be my worth. AND, I have faith in a God who preaches that the last will be first and that the greatest in Heaven will be the weakest in the eyes of the world. THANK GOD I learned this lesson, and I still have the rest of my life to live with that wisdom.
I am not my resume. I am not my accomplishments. I am not defined by how people regard me. I am a daughter, a wife, and a beautiful, loved child of God.