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Oprah's Super Soul

23 Sep 2026 · 37m · 14 chapters

Episode artwork

Iyanla Vanzant: The Four Essentials of Trust

In short

Iyanla Vanzant discusses “the four essentials of trust” as the antidote to indecision, self-doubt, poor judgment, and fear. She argues that the core problem is believing we are separate from God and from each other, and that restoring self-trust is the path to trusting others, letting go of anger, and finding contentment. She ties trust to vulnerability, internal intuition (“the voice of God”), and boundaries—especially with family.

Guest backgrounds

Iyanla Vanzant is a best-selling author and spiritual leader (notably from OWN’s “Iyanla: Fix My Life”). She recounts childhood trauma: rape at 9, pregnancy at 14, and later her mother’s death and her own daughter Jamiya’s death from cancer, followed by bankruptcy.

Key claims

Trust in self, God, others, and life/process; “love bridges the gap, trust walks you across”; people must demonstrate capacity to be trusted; racism root is superiority/inferiority plus dishonesty.

Notable examples

her “pebble then brick” intuition; bankruptcy and finding a “cottage” via a $10,000 anonymous check; Charleston church shooting as a catalyst for honest conversations about race.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes.

Chapters

1:22

Understanding Trust with Iyanla Vanzant

Iyanla Vanzant discusses the importance of trust in personal healing.

“Welcome to Super Soul Conversations, the podcast.”
2:29

The Impact of Healing on Self-Perception

Iyanla shares how her experiences have shaped her relationship with God and herself.

“So we really haven't had a super soul conversation since you became the master healer for us on Own.”
6:22

Trauma and the Search for Trust

Iyanla reflects on her traumatic past and its effects on her ability to trust.

“I think that this is a problem in our culture that we don't know who we've come from.”
7:24

The Battle Within: Trust and Vulnerability

Iyanla discusses the internal struggle between wanting to heal and remaining in comfort zones.

“disruptive and or dysfunctional behavior patterns that will impact every aspect of our lives.”
11:30

The Four Essentials of Trust

Iyanla introduces the four essential trusts necessary for personal growth.

“I know how to be broke and poor and struggle and suffer and be angry.”
14:44

The Four Essential Trusts

Explore the four essential trusts as described by Iyanla Vanzant.

“But you talk about the four essential trusts.”
18:04

Trusting Yourself and Others

Learn about the importance of self-trust and trusting others in your journey.

“But the shirt pulled the skin off because it had gotten infected.”
22:00

Trust in Times of Crisis

Hear Iyanla's stories of overcoming adversity and trusting the process.

“But then again, that means that you've got to be willing sometimes to stand alone.”
28:32

Trust in Times of Crisis

Hear Iyanla's stories of overcoming adversity and trusting the process.

“That's S-E-R-V-A-L dot com slash tickets.”
28:44

Building Trust Through Adversity

Iyanla Vanzant shares her journey of rebuilding trust in God after losing her home.

“You know, that's why a lot of people don't trust, because they know they lie.”
Show all 14 chapters
31:20

Boundaries with Family

Exploring the importance of setting boundaries with family members to foster trust.

“But there are a couple of things I want to get from this book.”
32:48

Trust and Racism in America

A discussion on the roots of racism and the importance of honest conversations.

“On page 190, you write, hoping that somebody will meet your needs and trusting his capacity to do so are two very different things.”
37:12

Spiritual Connection and Trust

Iyanla Vanzant reflects on her spiritual experiences and the essence of trust.

“As we got to have the conversation that as an African-American man in this country, you are not safe from the people who are entrusted to protect you.”
40:33

Spiritual Connection and Trust

Iyanla Vanzant reflects on her spiritual experiences and the essence of trust.

“We built Serval to automate the IT work that slows companies down.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00Hi, this is Mark Bittman from the podcast Food with Mark Bittman. I've been writing about food and restaurants for almost 50 years, my whole career, really. And what I know is that the good restaurants all have something in common. They're busy, genuinely, chaotically busy. And somehow in the last few years, the best of them have begun to make it look easy. And do you know why? Because they're running on Toast's technology. Toast is built for restaurant owners who understand that Toast's tools keep the line moving and keep their customers happy, with fewer mistakes and hiccups in ordering and paying.

0:38For owners, that turns busy into business. To learn more, head to toasttab.com. That's T-O-A-S-T-T-A-B, toasttab.com. Toast, built for busy. Hey, y 'all. Kelly Clarkson here with Wayfair. You know my favorite compliment during the holidays? Your house feels so cozy. That's when I know everyone's comfortable enough to kick off their shoes, grab more dessert, and stay a little longer. Wayfair makes it easy, with everything from dining furniture to festive guest room essentials, all in one place. So whether you're hosting for an afternoon or all weekend, everyone feels right at home. Get holiday guests ready at Wayfair.com or on the Wayfair app today.

1:22Wayfair, every style, every home.

1:27I'm Oprah Winfrey. Welcome to Super Soul Conversations, the podcast. I believe that one of the most valuable gifts you can give yourself is time. Taking time to be more fully present. Your journey to become more inspired and connected to the deeper world around us starts right now. Indecision. Self-doubt. Poor judgment. Fear. There is a spiritual connection between all of these feelings. Best-selling author and spiritual leader Iyanla Van Zandt says, the word that links them all is trust. Iyanla explains how restoring faith in ourselves is the only path toward trusting others, letting go of anger, and ultimately experiencing the contentment we all crave.

2:18In her book, Trust, Iyanla also shares the deeply personal work she had to do herself to recalibrate her own internal compass. Just like on her hit show, On Own, Iyanla Fixed My Life, Iyanla believes there is nothing love can't fix. So we really haven't had a super soul conversation since you became the master healer for us on Own. I want to know what has that experience of so directly spiritually and humanly impacting other people's lives done to your own? Push me knee deep into a more intimate relationship with God. I say to all my guests, I've said to all the crew, I'm not doing television, I'm doing my ministry.

3:16and when God sends people to me, I have to do what God wants me to do with them. So I've got to be prayed up. I've got to be grounded. I've got to be centered. I've got to make sure that my intentions are clear. So what Fix My Life has done for me has been deepen my intimacy with God, deepen my spiritual practice, deepen and in many ways made me a really, a kinder and a gentler Iyanla. Really? Yeah. So, I mean, I've lost my Brooklyn fire. That's not going nowhere. But a kinder and gentler Iyanla. In my spirit, in my heart. And you can see the commonality in that human experience. What is the wound that we're all suffering from?

4:07That was separate from God. Of course, a miracle says you cannot solve the problem because you do not know what the problem is. The only problem you have is the belief that you're separate from God. Because if you knew who lived within you and walked beside you, you could never be afraid or angry or ashamed or whatever, you know, your wonderfulness of humanness is. Yes. So that is it. The belief that we're separate. The belief that it looks like I'm separate from you. You're over there. I'm over here. That, you know, straights are separate from gays. Blacks are separate from white. And our belief in that illusion and the physicality makes us think, I can do anything to you.

4:46You know, when I'm walking in the supermarket now, I am your sister. I am a demonstration of who you are, of who my grandmother was. And that's because of our oneness. I see it and I feel it and I live it so that I know every time I show up, I am a demonstration and a representation of past and future generations. Yes. So I got to be clear. Yeah. That's what Maya says in that poem to our grandmothers. I come as one, but I stand as 10 ,000. 10 ,000. That's right. That's right. My, you know, my mother died at 31 years old. An alcoholic died of leukemia and breast cancer after working from the time she was 13 years old.

5:35She was a porter on the railroad. and I am her demonstration. When people see me, they have to know that I am Sahara Elizabeth Jefferson's daughter and I cannot live like my mother cleaned toilets. I have to live like she was her mother's daughter and brought forth a life. She brought me forth and I have to be a proud demonstration of that. Yeah. You know? Well, this is so interesting because we all are a product of where we have come from And many of us have spent our lives trying to heal the wounds of where we've come from. See, we're a product of who we come from. The environment simply structures and shapes how we experience who we are.

6:24I think that this is a problem in our culture that we don't know who we've come from. And who we are. And who we are. And this is why we don't trust. We don't trust. Iyanla remembers her own childhood as a time plagued by secrets and fear. Following the death of her mother, Iyanla was sent to live with her grandmother, Rissy. At nine, Iyanla was raped by an uncle. And by the age of 14, she was pregnant with her first child. In Trust, Iyanla explores the lessons behind her own painful past. You say here, when the soul does not develop within the experience of trust, there remains within us a child who's in a constant search for attention, understanding, love, respect, and possibly justice for her abuse or neglect.

7:19These needs, when left unmet and unaddressed, will fester and grow into disruptive disruptive and or dysfunctional behavior patterns that will impact every aspect of our lives. Yeah, because I had to stop being an abused, abandoned, neglected little girl and recognize that beyond that, in my DNA, in the cellular and molecular structure of my being, were the Cherokee people, were the Dahomean people, were descendants from Cuba, were women who picked cotton all day and therefore had a strength in their back. Let me get that strength in my back as opposed to me worrying about the fact that I went to school and run over shoes when I was six.

8:05That was not going to turn out well for me. I had to go back a little further and understand that was an experience that I had, but that's not all of who I was. You know, often we teach, preach, say what we most need to learn. What was it about trust that you needed to learn for yourself? I grew up thinking that a woman was my mother who was not. I grew up thinking that there was something wrong with me because God only knows why. My life was a lie. Well, actually, you explained why so well. In reading about your grandmother, I think she was related to my grandmother. In all the ways that you make children feel inadequate.

8:47Inadequate. Bad. I was bad. I was bad. I had the devil in me. I had the devil in me, and she was going to beat it out of me. Because she was a woman who, because of the times in which she was raised and the suppression and oppression, had learned that it was best to go through the world keeping quiet. Keep quiet. Be who they want you to be. had I knuckled down, had I really given in to the restrictions and limitations placed on me, I wouldn't be who I am today. It was my talking that saved me. Here was the, you know, the classic, shut up, you talk too much. Shut up. Why you talk so much? You've always got something to say.

9:28And today people pay me well to hear me speak. If I had shut up as a child, that may not have So you learned that you needed to learn to trust yourself. And I love what you say in here is that, you know, there isn't a person you can ask in the world at some point where they didn't say, you know, I just find it difficult to trust people. Right. But what you say, that's not really the issue. No. Learning to trust other people. No. The real issue is... Trusting yourself. Trusting yourself that you're going to make the right choices. Trusting yourself that you can hear that voice and follow it. trusting yourself.

10:05That when people betray you, abandon you, don't acknowledge you, you will... I'll be okay. I'll be okay. And when I go back and look at it, something told me. You know, you say, God throws a pebble, then he throws a brick. You got to learn to trust the pebble when you hear it. Very lightly. When you hear it, it's like... It shows up, doesn't it? Like a pebble. But we don't pay attention to that. Yes. I love where you say there is no greater battle in life than the battle between the parts of you that want to be healed and the parts of you that are comfortable and content remaining broken. That is it.

10:51That is it. That is it. There is a part of me. I think it was Bishop T.G. Jakes who said the enemy is in me. The enemy is in me. I'm not fighting the world. I'm fighting that part of me that says, you can't do that. Don't do that. And there's a part of me that says, come on, we're going to do this. And then the other part says, don't you remember what happened last time? Oh, you're going to do that. You can't do it. It's in me. And there's a part of me. So that's where the real battle is. That's where the real battle is. That is where the crux and the core of trust comes in. Those two parts of us.

11:25The part of us that would rather stay broke and miserable, complaining, you know, living in the whatever, the mediocrity. And why? Why? Because we're afraid? Because we get to control it. We get to control it. I know how to be broke and poor and struggle and suffer and be angry. I know how to do that. You know, I got a degree. But when it comes to being open and vulnerable, because trust, the core ingredient of trust is vulnerability. Yeah. That's the core. Being vulnerable, going within, following my intuition, and facing the unknown. I'm not going to face the unknown because I can't control the unknown.

12:11I can control the familiar. I can control what I know. I'm going to trust that even if I'm miserable. I'm gonna trust it, rather than opening myself to a greater, grander possibility that requires me to be vulnerable. This is what the Detroit Free Press said about you recently. Iyanla Van Zandt's philosophy is this. Help people find the truth and love each other. Do you believe that there is no difficulty that trust and love will not conquer? None whatsoever. Love will bridge a gap. Trust will walk you across the bridge. Love and trust. And those are the two greatest things. Those are the two things people have the greatest problem with.

12:55Loving people and trusting themselves so that they know who to trust. How did you learn to fix your own life and learn to trust when everybody in your life, particularly in your family, had let you down? I started paying attention. I started taking copious notes to my own behavior. because I had a choice. I could either blame them and be upset with all of them, all of whom were dead. Pointless. Or become accountable and responsible. They taught me to do the wrong things, but I voluntarily continued to do it. If I'm continuing to do the things that they taught me and my spirit is saying, that ain't right.

13:40That's not right. You know better. You know better. You know better. So, I had to start paying close attention to what I was doing based on what I had been taught. There are two types of business owners. Those who are busy and those who want to be busy. Toast is designed for both. With tools to keep you humming and help turn grind into growth. That's how you turn busy into business. Toast. Built for busy. So, you're not worried about hosting the whole family for the holidays? Why would I be? Wayfair had everything I needed to get the house holiday ready. What if Mike brings his cheerful dogs? My tree has tons of five-star reviews telling me how sturdy it is.

14:23But what if everyone's plus one brings a plus one? We'll see how extendable this extendable table really is. And extra chairs are on the way. Okay. What if there's a blizzard and everyone has to sleep over? Ready to go with extra bedding and towels. From guest-ready essentials to holiday decor you can trust, Wayfair delivers.

14:43So I want to go through, I want everybody, first of all, just read the book. It's so powerful. But you talk about the four essential trusts. Yes. Trust in self, trust in God, trust in others, trust in life. Life, the process. The process. Yeah. I thought it was interesting that you had the four trusts, which you say are just like oxygen. And I thought it was interesting that you had self first. Yes. because I've got to know who I am. The first thing that I have to know is that I am a unique demonstration and representation of the chief architect and creator of the universe. All that God is, I am.

15:24I have to know that. I have to know that. Otherwise, I'll continue to believe in separation. Well, you grew up with the same God I grew up with. Yeah, the one in the church. The one in the church. They're going to smoke your eye, pluck it out, die, foot it. That guy will pluck it out the high. I just, yeah. He has a big scroll. Your name is in it. And every time you do anything, he is watching. He's like Santa Claus, only bigger. He's going to hell. Yeah, yeah. You're going to hell. Yeah. But the gift is that I saw God at a very early age. Yeah. You saw. I saw God. And knew that that was God. Did you all have the picture of Jesus with the long hair?

16:11On the cross. Oh, let me tell you, this is horrible. When I had to get baptized, I must have been about six, in the Pentecostal church where Jesus saves. And so, you know, they take you to the altar, and they pray, and they do everything. And do you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? And then I looked up, and there he was on the cross. And I said, Him? He can't help me. Look at him. I was six. Because, of course, they don't explain anything to you. They're showing you this edifice. How's he going to help me? Yeah. He, look at him. Well, of course, that embarrassed, you know, I got beat into oblivion.

16:59But nobody ever explained to me who Jesus was, what the Christ was, what the cross was, what it meant. but because I had seen God, heard God. When did you see and hear him? I must have been about five. And how did God show, reveal? My grandmother had beaten me because I opened the door for the insurance man having been told never to open the door when nobody's home. And she beat me with an ironing cord.

17:37and I had welts on my back and she didn't attend to that. And so my undershirt stuck to my back and it got infected. When my stepmother came to take me school shopping so I could go to kindergarten, she pulled the shirt off my back and pulled all the skin off my back. And they took me to the hospital where I had to stay. for a few days because it was... The welts on your back. It was just, you know, all the welts. But the shirt pulled the skin off because it had gotten infected. And I saw it, heard it, and, you know, I just knew it was God. And... While you were in the hospital? Mm-hmm. Because as a kid, you're in the hospital.

18:27You know, and they didn't have a record of talking to me. So I was like, are they going to leave me here? Am I going to die here? You know, I don't know what. And God said to me, I'm with you, and you're going to be fine. Did it appear in a form, in a... Actually, what I saw was a nurse, a woman. First time I ever experienced. And I knew it. I knew this was God. I knew it. I know that sounds crazy, but, you know, I survived. And within the next three weeks, my father took me away from my grandmother and introduced me to my stepmother as my mother. And I was fine from there. She was my angel. Your stepmother was your angel.

19:09Yes. Yeah. Well, it's interesting because you say that self-trust really means listening to our internal compass. Internal compass is the voice of God. And it's internal. Yes. You know how many people worship an external God and then blame him for everything that happens? Yes. It's crazy. So that's how your relationship with God changed. It used to be an external out there. always from very early was internal. So I could see Jesus on the cross. I could see, you know, everything and understand that that represents something in me. That was just my blessing. That was my favor. Why do we have to learn to trust others?

19:53Because everybody is a representation of God. How can I not trust? See, here's the thing. Human beings are crazy as hell. they live messy lives. But they give you an opportunity to grow something bigger and better in you, even if that something is a no. Even if it's a no. If that something is a no. Even if it's a no. Yeah. No, you're not going to do that. No, we're not going to do that. No, we're not going to have that. No, you will not treat me like that. You know? So trusting humans is important because they give you an opportunity to grow that something you need gives them an opportunity to learn.

20:34Okay. So trusting in God, so trusting in yourself, and then trusting in God. But you've got to understand what God is. That's right, because that's what I was going to say. People struggle with the trusting of a God of their childhood. Yes. Yeah? And this is what was so confusing to you, too, at first. Yes. That boy was rough. That one didn't want me to wear no nail polish or drink no wine with my friend. That boy was rough right there. He was rough. You know, I had to find me a new kind of one. You couldn't dance. You couldn't do nothing. Listen to music on Sunday. And even though I had this different understanding within myself, there was no place in my life wasn't validated.

21:15So as I got older and, you know, I was wrong about this and wrong about, well, maybe I'm wrong about this. Maybe I'm wrong about this. Maybe this really isn't God, that thing that I heard and saw. And then I started looking outside. And that's when it all went apart. Fell apart. So we are in direct conflict, just as Course in Miracles says. The farther you are away from that internal compass, the more off track you are. The more off track you are. You are on the road in the dark with one shoe. Heading to the edge of the cliff. Throwing over. You gonna bust your face? You know, I love, too, when you say that when you live with trust and faith, truly live it, what everyone else says and does becomes irrelevant.

22:07It really does. You don't even hear it. But then again, that means that you've got to be willing sometimes to stand alone. You've got to be willing to piss some people off. You've got to be willing to look different, sound different, be different. And those are risks that many of us are not willing to do because we don't understand God. You trust Trust yourself by knowing who you are. You trust God by understanding God's nature. How are you able to trust yourself in the worst of times? Because I imagined myself being you, walking into the bankruptcy court and being, you know, like all your stuff has to be laid before people.

22:49How all your stuff. Everything. Everything. And you said that you were so numb at the time. I just went numb. Boop. Just went now. In 2003, Iyanla was devastated when her 30-year-old daughter, Jamiya, lost her battle with cancer. Iyanla had once earned a$3 million salary, but Jamiya's medical bills, a series of bad investments, a painful divorce, and years of unemployment, caused Iyanla to hit a financial wall and forced her to file for bankruptcy. I just numb myself. And here it is for me. I don't care what it is. If it's new, if it's scary, here it is for me. Yea, though I walk through the valley.

23:34The valley of the bankruptcy court. The valley of divorce. The valley of burying my daughter. The valley of ending a 14-year relationship. Yea, though I walk through the valley. I'm not going to fear. I may do a lot of things, I'm not going to fear. And this is what I tell my students all the time. There comes a moment in your life when you're getting ready to step into a new place. In that place, you should be so scared that there's a little pee running down your leg. Just a little bit of pee. Now, we're not going to have a whole, you know, release of the bladder. But a little pee should be running down your leg, because that's when you're going to depend on something greater than you.

24:20If you don't have a little pee running down your leg, then you're not living big enough. Wow. You're not. You had a little pee running down your leg when you started this network. Oh, I know. I started on. That's right. I had to go get you a little depends. Yeah, a little. A little pee. I think I had a river run through it. But you would get ready to live big. Yeah. You know? Yeah. So numb yourself. Keep walking. pee on yourself, keep on moving. And you're gonna get into a new place. But this is what I loved. You say, Throughout my life, I've learned to trust that there will always be a sister woman on hand to help me when I really need it.

24:55I trust that experience because it's been a powerful reality in my life. Perhaps that's because I've been that friend for so many other women. Just three days before I was scheduled to turn over the keys to my house, that sister woman called. I can't even talk about it. She had found me a place. She did. And said, when can I come to see it? I'm going to keep reading until you can talk. Whew. It was small, much smaller than a house I was giving up. This is what I love, though. It was clean. Yeah. Because I can live anywhere if it's clean. Clean is clean. That's right. It was clean. That's right.

25:32It was clean. Clean is a good thing. It was affordable, but of course, in my current state, that would be subject to interpretation. I love that line. It was. That, let me tell you, she did. Always, there's a sister, a woman who shows up with what I need. You know, I just lost my beloved Chinaza. Chinaza. But she called me and she said, I just drove past a place with a rent sign on it. When can you come? So I went there. And of course, at the thought of giving up my, you know, 14-room house to the bankruptcy court, I was desperate. And I had all my clothes and black bags in the back of my car.

26:18And so I went, and it looked beautiful!

26:23This little cottage. It was a hobble, but I called it a cottage because you have to create your own reality. And so I knew this was the place. Within a day, Amasi called me. She said, somebody sent you a check. But they want to remain anonymous. I said, how much is the check? She said, well, I'm going to put it in your account and you'll see. So the next day I look at my account. There was$10 ,000. And that's how I got in that house. Amazing. Within three days. Trust. Trust. I trusted. Trusted it. And it showed up. And it showed up in ways that I could have never imagined. Yes.

27:11Hey, y 'all. Kelly Clarkson here with Wayfair. You know my favorite compliment during the holidays? Your house feels so cozy. That's when I know everyone's comfortable enough to kick off their shoes, grab more dessert, and stay a little longer. Wayfair makes it easy with everything from dining furniture to festive guest room essentials all in one place. So whether you're hosting for an afternoon or all weekend, everyone feels right at home. Get holiday guests ready at Wayfair.com or on the Wayfair app today.

27:40I'm Jake Stouck, co-founder and CEO of Serval. We built Serval to automate the IT work that slows companies down. Onboarding, password resets, access to applications, my laptop stopped working. While employees wait for help, their real work is put on hold. IT desperately wants to automate this work, and that's why they need Serval. You just tell Serval what you want to automate in plain English, and it's built. No drag-and-drop workflows, no expensive consultants. Employees get unblocked, and IT teams go from drowning in tickets to building what actually matters. With Serval, IT becomes the AI engine powering the entire company.

28:20This is a new way to run IT. We guarantee you'll automate 50 % of all tickets and we'll prove it to you in a free four-week pilot. Go to serval.com slash tickets. That's S-E-R-V-A-L dot com slash tickets.

28:43How did losing that first house actually help you build your trust in God? I had to tell the truth. You know, that's why a lot of people don't trust, because they know they lie.

28:59When you know you lie, it's going to be hard to trust you. Now, I'm not going to eat no cookies. As soon as the lights go out, there you are down in the cookie jar, you know. But losing that house, the same, I had to trust that I'd land on my feet. So when I found the little cottage, you know, and got the money to get it, and I thought I'd only be there two years, I was there eight years, But the man who owned the house was always very good to me, didn't bother me. I was on 30 acres of land. I took care of my little house. It was wonderful. And then began to, through life class, through Fix My Life, began to do what Susie Orman told me.

29:40Susie Orman told me after that bankruptcy how to rebuild my credit. And I did exactly what she said, exactly the way she said it. Really? Yes. Who's not going to listen to Susie Orman? When it comes to money. Okay, so you eventually built back your finances enough through Susie Orman's advice and your own self-will. Yes. But were you still a little afraid? I was pee running down my legs. Big pee. I mean, kind of at least droplets on the curb when you walk by. But when I went to the house, and as I walked through the house, Ooh. I tell you, I just knew it was mine. You claimed it. Or it claimed you.

30:23It claimed me. It claimed you. And I named it, and I didn't know how. So when I called the realtor to say, how much do they want a month? She said, that house is not for rent. That house is for sale. I said, oh, Lord. She said, well, let's just see if you pre-qualify. And I'm thinking I had filed a bankruptcy. Yeah. You know, yada, yada. So she called, and I pre-qualified. Now, you know it was a fixer-upper. You know that. Yeah. And I didn't care. I was willing to paint every wall with a toothbrush if I had to. You are funny. That was my house. I was telling everybody, the supermarket cashier, the dog walker, I bought a house.

31:10I bought a house. I bought a house. Because when you get a victory, celebrate it. When you trust and the victim becomes celebrated. I believe in that. Yes. You and I could talk for hours. I know. Okay. But there are a couple of things I want to get from this book. Okay. Family members don't get special dispensation just because they're blood. We need to proclaim that. We need a big card. Hello. You know? A big card that says family members, you believe that we should remove the relative label from the equation and treat them like any other person. That's tough for so many people. I know, but if you know that your mother doesn't tell you the truth, don't keep acting like she does.

31:51If you know that your father has a tendency to not honor his word or just don't keep trusting he will do what he says he's going to do because he's your father. Because people should not be allowed to betray you in the name of blood. Yes. I'm your this. I'm your sister. That's right. I'm your relative. I'm your blood. No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no. And see, that was an easy lesson for me to learn because everybody in my family betrayed me. They all lied to me. They all, you know, my whole life was a lie. There are no sacred cows. So I think we need to clarify something here. Trust what you're saying does not mean you don't need to also have boundaries.

32:26You've got to have boundaries. You've got to have a no. And you have to, boundaries with your family. You know, you may know this too as the one who made it out. Yep. When I made it out. As the one who made it out. every hand, every bill, every need, everything. Your middle name becomes First National Bank. Yeah, ATM. ATM. Yeah, all right. On page 190, you write, hoping that somebody will meet your needs and trusting his capacity to do so are two very different things. Yes. How do we tell the difference? Through demonstration. this really shows up in relationships so that trusting other people if you are involved with somebody who has demonstrated they cannot keep their word they can't even get to where they're going on time they can't complete what they started you've seen it over and over and over again while you may want them to to meet a need or to be certain person or to be there for you You've seen that they can't, which means they don't have the capacity.

33:33I just ended a relationship because the person just didn't have the capacity to live at the level I'm living. Not a bad person. Good, beautiful person. But they don't have the capacity. And it's not loving to ask somebody to do something they are unable or unwilling to do. Amen, sister. One of the stories you mention in the book is the shooting at the church in Charleston. Yeah. We all remember back in June 2015 when a gunman opened fire during Bible study at the historic Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The shooter killed nine people, including state senator and pastor of the church, Reverend Clementa Pinckney.

34:16After a 14-hour manhunt, 21-year-old Dylan Roof was arrested. He later admitted to the shooting and told authorities he did it in hopes of igniting a race war. You know, an event like that, when you're talking about trusting in others, trusting in life, can cause everything to be called into question. Your faith, your trust, your belief in God. How do you trust again after something like that? Well, I believe that all things are lessons that God would have us learn. And I believe everything happens the way it needs to happen. They were not wrong in trusting that young man to come into the church.

34:58They were not wrong. They were doing what they needed to do. And what happened, even though our human eyes and human minds can't calculate it, needed to happen. I believe that what happened as a result is where the whole thing went to pot. I believe that that incident and many, many others were the call for us to have a real conversation about race and racism. I really do believe it. And we did a bypass. We went to forgiveness and be nice and be kind instead of saying, okay, we still got bushes here with people living in them that got this issue about race. Yeah. Like the profound lack of trust between, you know, the African-American community and police in our community right now.

35:44We won't have that conversation. And you can't, if you're not telling the truth, you won't trust. We do not tell the truth about race in this country. We keep saying there's no racial divide. Well, where do you live? We do it in pockets. We do it quietly. But we don't throw it out there. And that's why we still have it, because we haven't told the truth about it. So what is the root of racism, in your opinion? What? Superiority. Superiority and inferiority that dates back to how this country was created, the fact that it was stolen, it was stolen from my ancestors. We won't tell the truth about that either.

36:22You know? So it's superiority and dishonesty. That is the root of racism. Dishonesty. I'm superior because I said so. I'm superior because I have this and you don't. I'm superior because, you know, I choose to be. And I'm not making you inferior but because you're not like me, you are. Because you don't look like me. Because you don't have what I have. Because you don't do what I do. So racism, violence, dishonesty, it exists. And until we tell the truth about it and deal with it head on, deal with it head on. Starts with a conversation, though. Honest conversation. Everything starts with a conversation.

37:11Yeah. Yeah. As we got to have the conversation that as an African-American man in this country, you are not safe from the people who are entrusted to protect you. You simply aren't, Oprah. We got to have that conversation. And then we got to, once we have the conversation... Then you got to get people to accept that that is true. Right. To acknowledge that that is true. Because we shut it down. We shut it down. All right. Let's move to soul to soul. Okay. Finish this sentence. I feel the presence of God when... I breathe. I inhale. Mmm. I experience love when? Oh, my God. It should be I don't experience love when.

37:56I experience love moment by moment by moment. You do? I really do. I really do. The Purpose of Forgiveness is, your last book, The Purpose of Forgiveness is? Elevate my consciousness. to elevate my consciousness. I am living my purpose. When? I put God first. Wow. My life force is most fulfilled. When? My life force? My life force is most fulfilled when I'm praying. Yeah. I love to pray. It's orgasmic for me. I really do. I love to get into that space where I'm not in the physical anymore. I'm not black. I'm not a woman. I'm not poor or wealthy. I'm not even the host to fix my life.

39:02I am one with God. Wow. And I only had to have that experience once to know I had to keep going back and have that experience. What's the biggest obstacle to peace? Judgment. The most difficult choice I've had to make to fulfill my destiny is to say no to my family patterns. Mm. What's the word that best describes who you are and why you're here? One word? Mm-hmm. Trust. Trust. And the reason we need to trust is it keeps us connected to God. Trust is what keeps us connected to God. Wow. It was great seeing you again. Thank you. I'm Oprah Winfrey, and you've been listening to Super Soul Conversations, the podcast.

40:12You can follow Super Soul on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If you haven't yet, go to Apple Podcasts and subscribe, rate, and review this podcast. Join me next week for another Super Soul Conversation. Thank you for listening.

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From the publisher
This episode is a re-release; it originally aired on April 24, 2016. In her third SuperSoul Conversation, best-selling author, spiritual life coach and TV host Iyanla Vanzant discusses one of life's most difficult lessons: learning to trust. Based on her book “Trust,” Iyanla explains the importance of mastering what she calls the four essential types of trust: Trust in Self, Trust in God, Trust in Others, and Trust in Life. She believes that without these four types of trust, we cannot flourish. Iyanla stresses the significance of building your trust muscles on a daily basis through spiritual practice. She believes restoring faith in ourselves is the only path toward letting go of anger and ultimately experiencing the contentment we all crave. Iyanla is the host and executive producer of OWN’s award-winning series “Iyanla: Fix My Life.” She is also a minister, a mother and the author of more than 15 books.

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