my views on vulnerabilityI first found out about Maya Angelou the summer of my freshman year at college (sic ’em bears!), and the more I learned about her, the more my respect for her grew. She had endured a life of pain and suffering and still she managed to accomplish so so much – enough that even if she had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth and had had a nice cushy life (can you tell that I am talking about myself? ha ha) it would still be impressive. Anyhow, here’s a collection of some of the genius that has come out of her mouth (or her pen):
- ‘Love life. Engage in it. Give it all you’ve got. Love it with a passion. Because life truly does give back, many times over, what you put into it‘
- ‘Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it‘ – Amen!
- ‘Nothing will work unless you do‘ – Passion plus action really does equal miracles.
- ‘I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it‘
- ‘The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them‘ – I am a living testimony that this always winds up being for the best.
- ‘Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option‘ – This is something that I need to meditate on. Not quite sure how well it plays with my views on vulnerability
Tomi’s Thoughts 
That is so true. Thanks for pointing out that double standard – we are also making people options for ourselves even while refusing to be other people’s options. I guess it boils down to choosing wisely who we allow ourselves to be options for. Also, over the course of a relationship, any relationship, the priority-option status changes i.e. sometimes you’re both priorities to each other, sometimes you’re both options to each other, and sometimes one is a priority and one is an option.
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This is a great quote and one to ponder: ‘Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option‘. I guess the question is how can you be open and accept people where they are and where you are. I wonder if in relationships it is ever that we both love at the same depth, at the same time except for a few moments in time. I also think we have different depth of relationship with different people and that some people may be an “option” for us also. Yes it is worth meditating on.
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