In a world where we’re wired-in 24/7, juggling careers, home lives and social lives _ it’s not often you hear of people truly disconnecting and taking proper time out to just sit back and do nothing. Least of all, Oprah Winfrey. A media mogul, famed talk show host, critically-acclaimed actress, producer, and philanthropist, who also happens to have made $3 billion in her lifetime, you’d be surprised to hear that she’s actually pretty good at switching off.
Speaking in a new interview, the 64-year-old revealed that when she has time off, she loves nothing more than simply doing “nothing” on her Californian estate and that’s what makes her truly happy.
“I don’t know anyone happier. I don’t know anyone who has a better life, or had a better life. I look at other people and I think, they look happy. But not as happy as me.”
“I can go weeks and never turn on a television. I’ve gone a summer not having it on. No, my guilty pleasure is, I do nothing”, she told a fashion magazine. “I live in a very beautiful space that I created, and every time I leave home and I’m driving out the back with the pond and the ducks, and I’m looking at the grass and I see the house on the hill, I have this moment where I think about when Dorothy says in The Wizard of Oz, ‘I learnt I didn’t have to look further than my own backyard.’ Every time I think of that.”
“Most people don’t even know what makes them happy. But I can just sit on my porch and I’ll start reading a book and then realise, OK, I’m not reading any more. I can just take it all in. I can just be.”
It’s no secret that switching off is harder than it sounds when you live a high-pressure lifestyle but there are no end of benefits to doing it.
From reducing stress levels, to lowering your blood pressure and simply making you stop and appreciate your surroundings — Oprah’s really onto something.
From: ELLE UK
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