This Quote Has Changed My Whole Life In 2021

It is a mantra made by a dying woman who left her mark on the world that can transform your life, too.

“This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before!” — Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou’s final tweet, just days before she died. “This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.” This is my new life mantra.

Who Was Maya Angelou?

Maya Angelou was an American poet, memoirist, and actress whose several volumes of autobiography explore the themes of economic, racial, and sexual oppression.

Maya Angelou’s first autobiographical work, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), gained critical acclaim and a National Book Award nomination. Her best-known poem is perhaps On the Pulse of Morning, which she composed and delivered for the inauguration of U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton in 1993.

In addition to writing, Maya Angelou was a dancer who studied with Martha Graham and Pearl Primus. She acted onstage, in films, and on television in such works as Poetic Justice (1993), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), and Roots (1977). In 1981 Angelou became a professor of American studies at Wake Forest University.

Maya Angelou was awarded the National Medal of Arts (2000) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2010). She won three Grammy Awards for her spoken-word albums (1993, 1995, and 2002). In 1994 she was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

What Did Maya Angelou Say That Makes Her So Memorable?

There is a multitude of inspiring quotes all over the internet attributed to Maya Angelou. Here is a list of my favourite ten before I discovered the one referenced in this article.

I hope they inspire you, too.

1. 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.

2. There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

3. Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.

4. If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love.

5. My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style.

6. Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

7. If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.

8. Nothing will work unless you do.

9. We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.

10. You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lines. You may trod me in the very dirt, but still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Why Should This Particular Quote Be Important To You?

“This is a wonderful day. I have never seen this one before!” — Maya Angelou

It is important BECAUSE it reminds us to make today the best day it can be.

For context, I am a night owl and an early riser. I do not get half the recommended amount of sleep, but the one factor that would determine how well or how bad my day went was my attitude when I woke up.

If I woke up and it was cloudy outside, I instantly decided that it was a gloomy day and that was my mood for the rest of the day. I lived for sunny mornings because it was a sign that I had a sunny day ahead of me.

This day, last week, was a cloudy morning. The sun hid behind some mean-looking dark grey clouds and I could feel myself seething with gloom. No amount of coffee was helping me feel rejuvenated and nothing seemed to go my way.

For the umpteenth time since the national lockdown, I felt the walls of my otherwise cosy apartment close in on me. Anything that could go wrong did. I missed my first online meeting of the day. I was unfashionably late to the second one.

The power was out for the better half of the day and I had to walk 4 miles to the closest grocery store to pick up supplies. By afternoon, I was livid. I kept reminding myself that the morning was gloomy and the day was only going to get worse.

And then, I read that quote.

Make Today Your Best Day

It inspired me so deeply I had to find out in what book it had been written. A quick online search revealed it was Maya Angelou’s final tweet.

I realized I was taking beautiful days for granted. I was letting a bad attitude in the morning stink up the rest of my day.

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. — Maya Angelou

It has been a whole week and I am happy to share that I have changed my attitude. I celebrate every single day for the miracle it is. I endeavour to live each day as if it were my last. There is beauty in everything and I see things I never took notice of before.

Each day is a wonderful day that I am seeing for the first time ever.

I have realized that the best relationships come to us when we have learned to love ourselves deeply and without reservation. You learn how to love yourself best when you learn how to appreciate the good that is in your life today.

Celebrate each day for the wonderful day it is. Love yourself and others fully.

And now your thoughts…

I hope you reflect upon your own life after reading this article. And I hope you remember to never take this life and every extra day you get here for granted. Most of all, I hope that every morning when you wake up you will say,

This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before!

And that you will mean it, and live that day as the best day of your life, yet.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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