Oh, Maya!

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Thank you for this, Maya Angelou. Thank you, thank you, and thank you. In our journeys, it is so commonplace to be concerned with progress and achievement that the simple things fall by the wayside. When I say the simple things, I mean the most important things. There is so much in this statement. She says “I’ve learned” meaning she has been there to see these things out. She has seen how people react to events, she has seen how people react to her accomplishments, and she has also see how people react to her connection with them. I would put her list of experiences up against that of anyone. She lived quite a life, my friends.

Thank you, Wikipedia, for this summary:

“She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees.[3] Angelou is best known for her series of seven autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim.

She became a poet and writer after a series of occupations as a young adult, including fry cook, sex worker, nightclub dancer and performer, cast member of the opera Porgy and Bess, coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and journalist in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonization of Africa. She was an actor, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. In 1982, she earned the first lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She was active in the Civil Rights Movement and worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Beginning in the 1990s, she made around 80 appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem ‘On the Pulse of Morning’ (1993) at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration, making her the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961.”

There is plenty more. I just wanted to give you an idea. These are big things. These are things that will live in history books for generations, and well beyond that. After all of this, she said, “People will never forget the way you make them feel.” I spoke of a web of greatness in one of my past blogs “Reflection of Greatness”. In this, it’s easy to understand your connection to everyone else. Your ability to make someone feel valued or devalued is directly correlated to how they view you. Don’t forget that. This is by all means a two way street. Each party has their own piece of the pie, but consider that each action that takes place either brings someone closer to you, or pushes them further away.

Take a hint from someone who lived a life for others. Make someone feel valued and you, my friend, create a ripple that changes the course of, well, everything. Devalue someone and you have done the complete opposite. This goes for yourself, as well. Derive your value from inside. Don’t depend on others, because they may not be privy to this information and they may not care. Forget the talk and forget the trophies. Show me.

 

Danny Lesslie

@dannylesslie