tuesdaytrainingtitbits
@MCSTraining
from Mitie Client Services
Maya Angelou
by Ana Canabarro
Learning & Development Manager
Mitie Client Services
Maya Angelou made history when she became a
best-selling nonfiction author for her memoir ‘I
Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’, published in
1969, the first African-American woman to do
so.
She went on to lead an amazing life, with many
notable achievements. In honour of her birthday
next week, this week’s TTT looks at three
inspiring life lessons that she left us with:
1. “I've learned that you can tell a lot about a
person by the way (s)he handles these three
things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled
Christmas tree lights.”
Of all the profound quotes and poems Maya
Angelou wrote, this is one of my favourites
because it demonstrates the humour that she
was famous for, as well as giving a valuable
lesson. This is really about our immediate
reactions to life’s little inconveniences, because
if you stop to think about it, none of it is that
important. With the right attitude, most of it is
instantly forgettable.
I always say that I enjoy seeing people miss their
train. It sounds mean but I think you can tell a
lot about a complete stranger by the way they
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react when they run up to catch a train and the
doors close just before. Some people curse at
the skies, some look sheepishly at the floor,
others just carry on. There is usually another
train soon, what’s the big rush?
2. “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.”
How very true. Sometimes our communication is
less obvious and intentional. Sometimes, you
don’t have to say or do much to communicate
something. From things like being approachable
to the people around us to just being there for a
friend in sorrow, you don’t have to say much,
people feel it.
I once heard someone say: ‘you are all of the
people you’ve met’. So, what feeling do you
want to leave people with after they’ve met you?
3. “You may not control all the events that
happen to you, but you can decide not to be
reduced by them.”
Maya Angelou’s life was fraught with hardship.
Most of us will thankfully never have to live with
what she did, yet she chose to take control of
her feelings and attitude to lead an unbelievably
positive life that had a lasting impact on so
many people.
What an amazing life lesson, no matter what
happens to us in life, we have a choice on how
you live with it afterwards. If we have no control
over the actual events, we can at least control
our attitude towards it. Not an easy thing to do,
of course, but certainly something worth aiming
for.
Tuesday Training Titbits, Issue 136 | 24 March 2015
but daring still.