Proverbs 18:16 says that a man's gifts make room for him and that is exactly what comes to mind as I think about Maya Angelou. Here is a woman who had her share of major life battles, but rather than allow them to defeat her she was able to overcome with the help of her family and mentors. The law of attraction is a choice to not let the issues of life hinder you from becoming the person you were created to be. No one has the ability to control what is going to happen in life and if people think they do then they are crazy. But what everyone does have control over is how they are going to respond to the circumstances that come their way. Success didn't come to Maya because she "wished" it would, the success that she has had comes from her determination to look for the "rainbow in the clouds". She doesn't focus on the negatives of life, instead she looks for the rainbows which are the opportunities to grow despite the opposition.
Everyone has gifts and talents and strong potential, but not everyone uses them to their fullest. People like Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King, Albert Einstein, and countless others didn't have some great power that is unattainable for the rest of us. Yes- many of these people had gifts of writing, communication, intelligence, and other things that not everyone possess, but their biggest strength was their drive and determination. They made the choice to take risks, to get up when they were knocked down, to make sacrifices that honestly the majority of us are not willing to make. I really liked one of the statements that Maya made: "You can only become great at the thing that you are willing to sacrifice for." It is a truth that you see all around us. The great athletes, writers, speakers, etc. are all the people that gave up relationships, specific foods, a social life, and other luxuries to attain to achieve their high goals. Maya could have made the choice to remain a mute for the rest of her life and succumb to her fears, but instead she choice to become the person she was meant to be.
When I think about "leading with a spirit of love" in reference to Maya Angelou, I immediately think about her mother and grandmother and the large impact that both played on her life by their love. Once she returned to her grandmother after becoming a mute, her grandmother led her by love through her encouragement. She wasn't forcing her to start speaking again, although that was something she wanted and knew would eventually happen. What her grandmother did was continually remind Maya of the gifts that God had given her that would make her important in the world. The love of her grandmother and her mentor that introduced her to poetry was what ultimately set her free from her bond to silence. "Love liberates" was the phrase Maya repeated over and over as she talked about her relationship with her mom later in her life. The love her mom showed to her whenever she fell or was beat down by the world was what gave her the power to go back out and try again. The confidence that her loved ones showed Maya was what led her to become the great poet, author, and woman that she is. They never told her what to do, they simply encouraged her to do what she had been raised to do: "do right". Not only that, but Maya took that same spirit of love and turned it towards everyone she came in contact with. The wisdom she has about the power of words and how they can destroy or uplift people is rare in the world. What is even more impressive about Maya is that not only does she have that wisdom for herself, she holds the rest of the people she associates with to the same standard. She doesn't allow slander in her house and around her and she reproves in love. She is gentle and that's how she leads.
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