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 – Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou was not just my inspiration, she was everything I ever wanted to become in life. First, her story is similar to ‘the’ every day struggling young African; who struggles to survive and stay afloat in a society that has been programmed to make them fail.
Because, just like the rest of us, Maya Angelou rose through hardship to become an icon that is celebrated even when she is no longer with us, giving all those who are oppressed a voice and the hope that with passion, determination, and focus, they can defeat societal forces and pressure to become great.
Secondly, Maya inspired me to understand that there is nothing wrong with being abnormal in a normal society, you see, society will always want you to conform to certain rules and ideals; ‘Don’t do it! Don’t do that!’ But thanks to her, most of us got the nerve to face our oppressors and tell them the reasons we are still rising.
Maya inspired me to always strive to change what I don’t like. My ‘Mr fix it’ instead of ‘Mr complain’ attitude is the attribute of her effects in my life. I believe change can only take place if we start to change those little things we don’t like that are hanging around us.
For instance, if you don’t like your room, redecorate it, if you don’t like someone’s attitude towards you, talk to the person, if you don’t like your attitude, fix it.
“What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is to change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.” – Maya Angelou
Her thought about relationships motivated my thought process. Maya believed that women should first give their hearts to God so that any man who is interested would seek God first in order to discover their hearts. This I believe would have open the heart of many men to study and experience Love which is God.
“A woman’s heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her”
Finally, I will never forget her because in a World were most successful people are afraid of their scars or claimed to be saint, Maya was not ashamed to share her life stories, she told us she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend at the age of 8, got Pregnant at the age of 16 but went ahead to win ‘The Presidential Medal of Honour’, three grammy awards and many honorary degrees.
Maya is my inspiration, who is yours?