This time last year, I was in New Orleans (NOLA) for the first time, and I have to say, it was a trip that I’ll never forget.

Before leaving that weekend, I prayed over my vacation – like I do every other vacation – for everything to go well, and for me to have a new memorable experience. I prayed about it and left it alone. I didn’t ponder over it or doubt it; I really just believed that the trip was going to be exactly what I asked for.

As I walked out the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, a wave of heat hit me like I’d just stepped into a sauna (I wasn’t expecting that kind of heat). However, I was excited for the weekend and happy to be there. I went to New Orleans for the experience, of the Essence Festival, and to see the performers (Kendrick Lamar, Bad Boy family etc.).
And most of all the woman who, through her TV show, helped me a lot along my journey: Iyanla Vanzant.

I’d watched her show, “Fix My Life”, every season from the time it came out and, as much as she was always fixing her guest’s life, she was adding a lot of value to my own, so I was pumped to see her.

My friends and I partied, ate well, and I finally got the chance to experience Bourbon Street (that’s a blog post on its own). I dug into some black history and went to a plantation that left me flabbergasted: it’s one thing to see a plantation on TV, but to actually walk the land of my ancestors is a whole different story. Simply put, it was one of the greatest trips I’ve ever been on, and it only got better as the days rolled off the calendar.

Although my intention was to hear Mrs. Iyanla Vanzant speak, to see her in action, things didn’t quite happen that way. She was unable to make it to the convention center in NOLA for the motivation panel that Saturday and for very good reasons, but she didn’t leave us hanging. Instead, she sent her good sister friend, Oprah, in her place.

When we heard Oprah was in town, I was like, “Oprah’s in townnnnnn! We have to get there early!!!” My girls and I were pumped and, because we knew the convention centre would be packed, best believe we got there early that Saturday. There were no shenanigans going on that morning – we were up and out the door.

When we finally arrived, as predicted, the room was packed. After some waiting and anticipating, Oprah finally came out dressed in red, and ready to speak and uplift the crowd. Of everything she said during her talk, what really stood out for me was when Oprah said: “You don’t get what you wish for; you don’t get what you hope for. You get what you believe.”

After sitting through her phenomenal speech, I left there feeling so inspired. I left there not wishing or hoping to one-day meet Oprah in person. Nope. I left there believing that I would one day get the chance to meet her, maybe even to sit on her show.

As we left the convention center to walk back to our hotel, we saw several black
SUVs leaving the venue as well. Wanting to avoid the crowd, we walked on a street parallel to the main street. Still pumped, I kept saying, “ I believe that I’m going to meet Oprah.” My sister laughed and told me she didn’t know about that, but I reminded her that we’d just left the convention show where “believing” was a central topic, and that she just had to believe that I would.

That’s when I noticed a black vehicle and was, like, “I bet you Oprah’s in one of those SUVs.” My sister said that Oprah would never leave with the crowd, but I responded that, yes, she would, ”precisely because she knew no one would think she’d leave with the crowd.” As my sister and sister in-law walked ahead of me, I kept stretching my neck to see who was in the SUV because I strongly believed that I was going to see Oprah, and on that day to be exact.

That’s when my sister spotted Gayle, to which my sister replied, “That’s not Oprah. It’s Gayle!” As she looked at Gayle in the SUV, Gayle waved. We all waved back. Now, if you know nothing else about Oprah, you know that she had a talk show, and you know that Gayle is her best friend. So, I said, “If Gayle’s in there, Oprah has to be there, too.”

Once again, I stretched my neck to try to see through the dark-tinted windows (like a stalker lol), and I noticed someone else in the SUV wearing red. Who had on red? Oprah.

So, I started to tell them, “Oprah’s in the car, Oprah’s in the car!” As the window wound down, to my sister’s surprise (but not to mine because I believed), there was Oprah (a real memorable moment). And, who do you think was the first one to run up to the window? My sister, along with everyone else who happened to be around us in that moment. I kind of froze!

After leaving the convention I was going to take believing in what I want to manifest more seriously, especially after hearing Oprah’s journey of her career and life. I also believed that I would one day meet her. There was nothing in my mind that could convince me otherwise – I just didn’t know I’d meet her so soon.

What I learned the moment I met Oprah is this: Don’t say you believe and then doubt that belief. Instead, trust in your belief and wait for it to become manifest. It’s hard to do and, at times, my faith has been disrupted, but I’ve learned – through practice – to rebuke the doubt that creeps into my mind until it no longer exists within me.

From my journey to yours

K.G