Oprah's Lifeclass Daily Life Work: Winning the Hand You Were Dealt

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Pastor Rick Warren wants you to win with the hand you were dealt in life. Would you say you've been dealt a good hand or a bad hand? Why?

Do you feel there is something unfair, overwhelming or beyond your control in your life? If so, what is it?

Pastor Warren says your identity is shaped by the "five cards in your hand." The first "card" is your chemistry, or DNA. Describe your biological makeup—your physical being and overall health.

If you found "flaws," start to reframe your thinking and own what you have. Recognize that you are one of a kind, and it's time to start liking who you are. What's one nice thing you can say to yourself today?

Pastor Warren says your connections, or relationships with other people, make up the second card. "When your relationships are good," he says, "you feel good." Life is learning how to love, and "love is t-i-m-e." Who will you make time for today?

Another aspect of your connections is your perception of how you think others see you. How do you think others see you? What will you choose to accept and love about yourself? Write them down.

Circumstances you've faced in life—the third card—can come and go. Are there things that happened in your life that you wish happened differently—or never happened? What are they? How will you choose to look at them differently?

Pastor Warren says the fourth card, your consciousness, is what you believe about yourself. He says your thoughts can become your identity. What thoughts do you have over and over?

Of those thoughts, which are negative? How will you shift them to be positive? Write down the new thoughts you will give yourself.

The fifth card in your hand is choice. It's also the wild card in the game that can change how you respond to everything. What's one new choice you can make that might improve the course of your life?

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Published on January 09, 2013

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