You know the old question, ‘if you could invite anyone for dinner who would it be?’. I know for sure who one of my guests would be.  She’s a visionary, poetic, courageous, graceful, powerhouse of a woman. She has passed on now but her legacy lives on. She was an author, poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She is Maya Angelou. A woman who I respect and admire. I’ve loved all her books and I resonate with her profound quotes. In fact, a quote that I endeavour to live my life by is,

“The best part of life is not just surviving, but thriving with passion and compassion and humour and style and generosity and kindness”

Maya Angelou says it so beautifully – to thrive is to truly live. In thriving, we embrace all of life with openness, gratitude and wonder.
This means the challenges and goodness. Life is both light and darkness. Maya Angelou herself faced many challenges and hardships and yet thrived throughout.  

I love this quote because of the life virtues she espouses. To feel passion is to be truly alive. To be compassionate is to honour the oneness of all. To possess a good sense of humour lightens the load and brings joy. To have style is not so much about the clothes you wear but how you hold yourself. To be generous is to trust there is more than enough for all. To be kind is an act of humanity.

Another quote of Maya’s that adhere to is,

“When we know better, we do better”

Yes! We cannot know what we don’t know. But when we do know we are given a choice. The choice is to carry on like we don’t know or to do better. There are lots of ways this plays out in life all the time. In history, they didn’t know that asbestos was highly toxic. Then when they knew, they were forced to do better. In history, they didn’t that know lead was poison and they made water pipes and crockery from it. When they did know there was a change in what materials were used.

 In the past, I didn’t know that it was gluten giving me a bloated tummy. Now I know, I eat foods so that my digestion does better. In the past, I didn’t know that I was a Highly Sensitive Person whose nervous system became overwhelmed in situations like packed basketball games. Now I know which situations serve my energy and which don’t so I can do better with my wellbeing.

Reflections for you to ponder –

Which quality in Maya’s first quote above best describes you? Thriving, passion, compassion, humour, style, generosity, kindness?

Soul Reflection – What do you do better now that you know better?

For many more Maya Angelou quotes see, https://wisdomquotes.com/maya-angelou-quotes/

Image Credit: Everett Collection