Maya Angelou is one of my favorite poets because of her famous ability to be honest, humble, and gracefully express emotion in her writing. I often find myself pinning quotes by her on Pinterest and some of my favorite poems that she's written because I find them inspiring and beautifully honest. When I came across this one, I was immediately intrigued by the idea of meditating on what one has learned in life. As a twenty-one (almost twenty-two) year old girl, I know that I have a million things I still need to learn and often feel like I haven't learned anything or have grown at all yet. But when I read this quote, I was able to realize that that's just simply not true. We have all learned lessons no matter how immature or mature we feel or have been told that we are. But when I really sat down and thought about it, I realized that I've learned a lot in just twenty-one years. Some of the lessons I've learned have been like trying to run against the wind, it has been a cold fight the whole way through. But I can honestly say, that for every storm I've been in, I've come out a more mature, confident, and loving person that I have learned to be proud of. But I'm not just talking about me here, I'm talking about all of us. We have all been through storms of our own and have faced problems in life that we never thought we would make it through. But no matter how we feel in one bad moment, the sun always rises the next day.

So in trying to follow the model of Maya Angelou's quote, I have written my own quote about what I have learned so far in life. I think this is really important for everyone to stop and think about whether they write a quote and hang it somewhere they see everyday, or make it as a reminder on their phone. We need to remember the places we have been in life, even the painful ones, because they have collectively made us who we are today. I have written my own version of Maya Angelou's quote below:

" At twenty-one years old, I have learned that worrying is a waste of time. I've learned that owning who you are and humility are two of the most attractive qualities a person can have. I've learned that reading your bible everyday can heal everything and anything. I've learned that the things that make you different are what make you significant in this world. I've learned that it's okay to cry in front of other people. I've learned that you know you have a true friend when you can sing and dance with them to the car radio. I've learned that no matter what anyone does to you in this life, you must always forgive them. I have learned that I will never stop learning and that is one of the best things about life."

This obviously isn't everything that I have learned in my life, but it is some of the first things that came to my mind and I think that is the point of this exercise. So, be your own Maya Angelou and make a quote about what you have learned in life. The most powerful way to approach this is by writing the first things that come to your mind. When you do that, you realize that you know more than you think you do and that most of the time the answers we are searching for are already within us (as cheesy as that sounds it's true). It doesn't have to be perfect, but give this a try! I honestly think it will be a powerful experience and you will see that you have learned more than you give yourself credit for. Have fun with it!