When you learn...teach!

Have you ever had one of those days, when you got home from a day that didn't seem to end? You collapse on the couch, your muscles screaming from overuse, your temples pounding because your brain fried itself hours before and your stomach cramping because you can't remember the last time you ate? No sooner than you park your rear to catch your breath,  you’re ambushed by an adoring feline who fights you for cushion space, one of your children suddenly awakens with the flu and christens your carpet and your loving husband took the laundry from the dryer but dumped the clothing in a wrinkled heap on the floor.  Seems lately I've been having a lot of "these" days... 

Sometimes it’s hard to know where we, as women, find our energy to multitask and survive. But despite the challenges, the gratification we receive from what we are able to accomplish makes the chaos worth the aftermath.  We work hard to “have it all” and in the process of living we sometimes forget our own health and well-being. Most of us are guilty of putting ourselves last.

For me, after a long day or night spinning on the hamster wheel called my life, I regain balance and restore my mental energy by turning to a woman I have always loved and admired. Maya Angelou revives my tired spirit. She is my beloved guru whose powerful words lift me up and make me believe in myself again. She is a creative genius, gifted in story telling, using a melody of verse that can quiet the stormiest of souls.

She enters my sensory world and fills my empty cup with knowledge and meaning. I ingest her works with gratitude, literary metaphors and poetic symbols. Words enter my mind and touch my heart, painting pictures of a new world filled with possibility. She taught me that we all have an opportunity to contribute and make a difference, if we are willing to give of our time, while wishing on a shooting star that we’ll be able to leave a brighter world to our children.

She is a creative power, a grand giver and if you open your mind,  she will gently explain life’s truths and mysteries. When you close the pages of her words, you will believe that no mountain is too high to climb; failure and quitting is never an option; wishes do come true, even if you’re not Cinderella; love yourself; love others; rise up every day and do your best -- magic can be found if you look for it….

45 Best Maya Angelou Quotes

1. If we lose love and self respect for each other, this is how we finally die.

2. Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at it destination full of hope. 

3. If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don’t be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning ‘Good morning’ at total strangers.

4. If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.

5. Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time. 

6. The honorary duty of a human being is to love. 

7. Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage. 

8. I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass. 

9. My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return. 

10. One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential.  Because without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest. 

11. The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. 

12. The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.

13. Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

14. I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it. 

15. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. 

16. Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it. 

17. My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.

18. You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you. All the other tangible rewards will come as a result. 

19. When you get, give.  When you learn, teach. 

20. I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

21. Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud. 

22. We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty. 

23. You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody.

24. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.
 
25. The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.

26. Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.

27. You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise!

28. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life. 

29. Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.

30. I sustain myself with the love of family.
 
31. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

32. A woman in harmony with her spirit is like a river flowing. She goes where she will without pretense and arrives at her destination prepared to be herself and only herself.

33. The ship of my life may or may not be sailing on calm and amiable seas. The challenging days of my existence may or may not be bright and promising. Stormy or sunny days, glorious or lonely nights, I maintain an attitude of gratitude. If I insist on being pessimistic, there is always tomorrow. Today I am blessed.

34. The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but they don’t know my story… 

35. A woman who is convinced that she deserves to accept only the best, challenges herself to give the best. Then she is living phenomenally.

36. The sisters and brothers that you meet give you the materials which your character uses to build itself. It is said that some people are born great, others achieve it, some have it thrust upon them. In truth, the ways in which your character is built have to do with all three of those. Those around you, those you choose, and those who choose you.

37. Living well is an art that can be developed: a love of life and ability to take great pleasure from small offerings and assurance that the world owes you nothing and that every gift is exactly that, a gift.

38. Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.

39. You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.

40. We spend precious hours fearing the inevitable. It would be wise to use that time adoring our families, cherishing our friends and living our lives. 

41. When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed. 

42. This is my life. It is my one time to be me. I want to experience every good thing. 

43. I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver. 

44. We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.

45. You rose into my life like a promised sunrise, brightening my days with the light in your eyes. I’ve never been so strong. Now I’m where I belong.