Gratitude. That's the gift I'm giving myself this year, and the gift you just might want to give yourself, too. Why? Because it can transform any situation. It alters your vibration, moving you from negative energy to positive. It's the quickest, easiest, most powerful way to effect change in your life—this I know for sure.

This time last year I was writing about how 2012 had kicked my butt. I was in the climb of my life, building OWN. What a difference a year makes. My team, led by Erik Logan, Sheri Salata and Rita Mullin, has—with a double shot of brilliance from Tyler Perry—helped me turn OWN around. By the third quarter of this year, we'd earned our first profit.

My heart overflows with gratitude to the people who stuck by me when the critics had called it quits for me and my "struggling" network. I grew to disdain the word struggle every time I saw it written to describe our state of affairs. But then I started to replace the narrative with gratitude. "I'm so grateful to have this opportunity to speak to the world in this way." "I'm so grateful for the wisdom teachers of Super Soul Sunday and Lifeclass." "I'm so grateful to be able to speak with a voice that's relevant to the issues of our times." When I shifted the paradigm to giving thanks, the work itself shifted.

That's the gift of gratitude: In order to feel it, your ego has to take a backseat. What shows up in its place is greater compassion and understanding. Instead of being frustrated, you choose appreciation. And the more grateful you become, the more you have to be grateful for.

I remember years ago crying on the phone to my friend and mentor Maya Angelou, complaining about some perceived injustice. She stopped me mid-tear and told me: "Say 'thank you' right now. Because your faith is so strong you already know God put a rainbow in every cloud."

This year has reminded me once again that whatever you're going through, you will do just that: go through it. It will pass. So say "thank you" now. Because you know the rainbow is coming.

What Oprah Knows for Sure About...

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