How My Favorite Quote Improved My Outlook on Life

Whenever I read this quote, the strength it emits shakes me to my core. It makes me shut my mouth and act right, and it's from none other than the great, Maya Angelou. This Maya Angelou quote came into my life during a period of self-pity and self-victimization. I felt alone and was searching for a way to pull myself out of the funk. During this time, I also read the mind-blowing book, the Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. The combination of this book and that quote helped me reframe how I viewed myself and the world around me. It forced me to acknowledge that my victimization and sadness were self-imposed. 

While I knew these tools were sharing a message I needed to hear, it took everything in me to really lean into this lesson from the universe. I was coping with a disintegrating relationship, missing my best friend and adjusting to a new job with new people; all I wanted to do was complain and feel sorry for myself.

To cure my propensity for complaining, I decided to use the Maya Angelou quote as an affirmation. I repeated it to myself every time I felt angry or sad, as these feelings often triggered my need to complain. The more I repeated the quote, the more I realized complaining is counterproductive because while complaining about a person, place or thing can make you feel like you're reducing stress, in the act of complaining what you're actually doing is fixating on the problem at hand. I needed to fix my issues or move on.

Fix it or move on!

That's what this quote taught me.

These are the only choices I have when it comes to the problems I encounter in life...I can change it and if I can't, I have to change my attitude because in changing my attitude, I give myself permission to move on from the melodrama. 

What's your favorite quote? How has it inspired you?