The Overflow

Just last spring the world lost an amazing soul when Maya Angelou passed away. I was just a girl when she published I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, an amazing collection of essays that revealed the darkest aspects of her personal life and the victories she celebrated.

Whenever Ms. Angelou was to appear in an interview or a special TV documentary or movie was to feature an appearance or story about her life, I tuned in to hear and see anything she had to say or anything that would be said about her. Her life was about truth and defeating the odds to find the beauty in life and she always had something significant to share with the rest of the world.

None of this was by chance. Maya Angelou didn’t just sit around watching TV all day and taking naps the rest of the time. In her own words, “The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so you can be a rainbow in somebody else's cloud. Somebody who may not look like you. May not call God the same name you call God—if they call God at all. I may not dance your dances or speak your language. But be a blessing to somebody. That's what I think.”

This woman prepared for what might come . . . spent her time getting ready to make a difference. Then it flowed out of her life.

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luke 6:43-45, emphasis added).

Do you get the good news in those verses? If you fill your heart up with good things, the good things will just overflow naturally! You won’t have to walk around thinking, What will be the next good thing I’ll think of to do? What wonderful thing should I say next time to inspire everyone? Those good ideas and activities will overflow naturally, just like a coffee cup filled to the brim with so much coffee it can’t contain it all.

So listen to uplifting music, music that fills your heart and your thoughts with happiness. Read the Bible, especially the words of Jesus. Spend time with friends who encourage you and bring out your best. Take a walk or find some way to move around to get some of those good endorphins released into your system.

Then the good things will come naturally and your mouth will speak what your heart is full of . . . and the world will be better for it.