Maya Angelou on Respecting Your Past

Welcome to Make Daily! This email contains an idea, reflection, and a simple action you can take to improve your life today.

Idea 💡

"I have great respect for the past. If you don't know where you've come from, you don't know where you're going. I have respect for the past, but I'm a person of the moment. I'm here, and I do my best to be completely centered at the place I'm at, then I go forward to the next place."

— Maya Angelou

Reflection 🤔

"The good and bad of your past crafted you into who you are. "

Respecting where you come from is a humbling excercise.

The good and bad of your past crafted you into who you are. Your sense of identity stems from it. It's worth honoring and showing gratitude for helping you become you.

But you don't have to be stuck there. If you want your story to change, you can look forward into the future and begin changing it, now.

Action ✅

Honor your past, but don't get trapped by it.

Envision what you want your future to look like and take action on it today.

Creator Fact 👤

Maya Angelou was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. For someone with such a powerful voice, it's shocking to learn that she spent 5 years of her childhood as mute.

At the age of 7, Angelou was sexually assaulted by her mothers boyfriend. After she informed her family, he was arrested and imprisoned. His jail sentence was only 1 night long.

The abuser was murdered almost immediately upon his release. Angelou felt such guilt for his murder, that she didn't speak for the next 5 years.

“I thought my voice killed him; I killed that man because I told his name. And then I thought I would never speak again because my voice would kill anyone …”

Eventually with the help of her brother, she began to speak again and eventually became a powerful voice during the Civil Rights movement and beyond.

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That's a wrap for today. The day is full of opportunity and its up to you to make something cool with it. See you tomorrow!

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