"Your opinions about me does not change who I am." Lailah Gifty Akita
It is easy to say things about other people. Nice things are often appreciated.
Yet we are all very good about saying the not so nice things, about, and often to, other people. I have come to realise that these 'not so nice things' stay with us and if we let them, they can contaminate our future. My angels remind me to only say the good and nice things.
The quote today is from Lailah Gifty Akita, an inspirational writer, born in Accra, Ghana. A young woman passionate about empowering the minds of young people. Her books The Alphabet of Success and Think Great, Be Great are well worth a read. I have often been challenged by the opinions of others, and I have allowed these opinions to dictate to me. I find myself losing my sense of worth and struggling to believe in myself. In more recent times, I try not to allow these opinions to change who I am. I hold fast now to who I know I am.
These words from a song that I heard recently resonate in my heart - "I'm not the things my family did, I'm not the voices in my head, I am not the pieces of the brokenness inside. I'm not the mistakes that I have made or any of the things that caused me pain, I am not the pieces of the dream I left behind. I'm not the colour of my eyes, I am not the skin on the outside, I am not my age, I am not my race - my soul inside is all light."
This beautiful song is by India Arie Simpson (descendant of the Mende people of Sierra Leone, the Kru people of Liberia and the Fula people of Guinea-Bissau) who is an American singer-songwriter, actress, musician, and record producer.
The last lines in this song she sings, speak of - "divinity defined, God on the inside, a star, a piece of it all - we are light". Many spiritual traditions speak of ascending levels of non-physical illumination, beginning with the obscure sparkles that typify everyday awareness and culminating in the infinite light of the eternal Self. So my friends - I am light, you are light; we are light. Let our light shine this week and every week, in a world which sometimes seems filled with darkness. Arohanui.
Shirley-Joy