DOLLY PARTON

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I Love Dolly Parton. She won me over as I watched an interview she gave to Charlie Rose.

Funny, endearing, bright and articulate...with soul inspiring wisdom...she's one middle child who made it big because of her honest integrity and down home upbringing. Her grounded confidence in who she is impressed me to no end...So did the Love she learned amid a family of 11 siblings.

When asked if there was anything about her life that she would change...she didn't miss a beat-"If you change anything, you change everything." That's profoundly it in a nutshell. If you change anything you change everything! How right she is--and I know my High School Physics teacher would agree.

Dolly says there's nothing she'd change...except maybe listening to that voice within...The warning voice she ignored countless times. But nonetheless-she's happy with her past and positive about her future...because things simply turned out terrific for a small town country girl with big dreams and an even bolder image.

But as I think about the truth of her words- I realize it's also important to remember-that sometimes-changing just one thing...makes all the difference in the world-to a better way of life...Letting go of the one thing that drags you down...the people, places, substances, bad habits...changing just one thing...making one healthy choice-can change everything -for the better.

I see it all the time with people in recovery...Letting go of their drug of choice...changing one bad habit...turned their entire lives around...lifting them to new levels of peace and purpose they had never known before. I've seen it in co- dependent relationships...When one person walks away...both find a new freedom-they have never ever known before. Changing one thing can be scary-but it's often the one step that sets you soaring...and sometimes saves your life.

Dolly's looks are deceiving...and she knows it...But she's one person whose consistently colorful theme has never changed over the years...And that's one thing that has worked exceptionally well for her...which proves she's a lot deeper and certainly much more shrewd than she may appear at first glance.

Her interview left me smiling ...and it left Charlie Rose laughing...And as the credits rolled-I thought-there isn't one thing I would have changed about that show...except maybe running into overtime. But then-who knows, that may have changed how everything came out...It may have changed the impression Dolly left on me...and how I felt about her...and so that would have changed everything I believe right now.

So really-when I think about it-I wouldn't have changed a thing.

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