I once read a poem called "Still I Rise" which hit me good in the sense that it kind of spoken what I had in my heart while I was just learning to let go of the bitter taste of rejection which I experienced over a decade ago. And whilst Maya Angelou may have written it pertaining to the oppression they suffered during their time, it spoke to me on a personal level.
Here's to share 4 of 9 stanzas that really resonated with me and I'd say they could be my own words and I quote:
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I鈥檒l rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I鈥檒l rise.
I've not experienced any rejection that hurt me so badly when I was growing up. Little did I know that settling later in life would make me taste how it is like and having no idea how to deal with it, I took it to heart which was the biggest mistake ever. It cost me years to regain my own strength and peace by letting it all go.
The verses on the poem felt like it was me talking while I was on the mend. Looking back, I just smile, feeling happy and grateful that I'm free. Albeit it was the most painful experience I had (emotionally and psychologically), it also gave me one of the best lessons that I hold dear in life. So when people I know share similar experience and still feeling vain, I usually tell them to shove it away and move on because the baggage isn't worth carrying because it will just drag them down to a place they wouldn't wanna be.
While it is okay to listen to constructive criticisms and reflect upon how to improve ourselves, it is never good to care about other people's opinions or expectations of us and take things personally because by then, we will become doubtful of our own self-worth. As one commented sometime ago, we are just doing a dis-service to our own selves. Instead, we should take what are useful and trash the ones that aren't and live life in the best way possible without holding a grudge against anyone else. Because no matter what we do, there will always be people who think we are falling short and it is just okay.
The poem is motivational, speaking of courage to keep on with life, to break free and not listen to naysayers, grow at our own pace and rise above our own expectations and not that of others.
This is my participation to the first question by Saffisara on this week's LOH prompt. I invite you to check it out and share yours too.馃槈
Photo and texts (except for the poem) are my own. 19042023/09:30ph