Still
I Rise
Maya Angelou - 1928-2014
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.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why
are you beset with gloom?
’Cause
I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping
in my living room.
Just
like moons and like suns,
With
the certainty of tides,
Just
like hopes springing high,
Still
I’ll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed
head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders
falling down like teardrops,
Weakened
by my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness offend
you?
Don’t
you take it awful hard
’Cause
I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’
in my own backyard.
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’ll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does
it come as a surprise
That
I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At
the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s
shame
I
rise
Up
from a past that’s rooted in pain
I
rise
I’m
a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling
and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of
terror and fear
I
rise
Into
a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I
rise
Bringing
the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I
am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I
rise
I
rise
I
rise.
What is the meaning
of Still I Rise?
Self-respect and Confidence
"Still I
Rise" is primarily about self-respect and confidence. In the poem,
Angelou reveals how she will overcome anything through her self-esteem. She
shows how nothing can get her down. She will rise to any
occasion and nothing, not even her skin colour, will hold her back.
How to be
Resilient.
One definition of resilience is: the capacity to bounce back
quickly from difficult situations. It is an inner trait that helps you adapt to
the changing situation and keep moving forward. This past year, many of us have
faced adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress—such
as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or workplace and
financial stressors.
MEDITATION: Nature has an inbuilt resilience. Things which appear
to be dead are merely dormant and spring back to life once the conditions are
right. It gives us hope that in the river of time, no matter how difficult the
circumstances, we just have to wait for the water of life to come back and
restore our fragile but precious sense of aliveness. How can you build your
patience and reserves of energy? How can you connect with nature to understand
its laws better?
Floating down the river of time, each one of us will meet our own set of
obstacles, hurdles and difficulties. How we overcome them or deal with them is
based on our resilience.
“Be like water making its way
through cracks.”
Trying hard. Recharging. Trying again.
A river will stop flowing if it is not recharged.
It’s the same for humans.
Let this three-minute video be a meditation on resilience, taught by the rivers of the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ8IUxzILtA&ab_channel=NitinDas
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