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.

What's Next?

According to John Lennon (or Allen Saunders, depending on whom you ask), “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

I just spent some time visiting with my parents at their house. I’m blessed to still have them around and love stopping by to have chats with them when I’m out running errands. Dan and I are planning to move into a nearby condo in several months, so I was talking with them about the many, many times we’ve moved over the last fifty-plus years. As I was driving home I was thinking about my life, and I thought that I might paraphrase the Lennon/Saunders quote to say, “Life is what happens to you while you’re waiting for the next big milepost to come along.”

That’s how I grew up. We moved an amazing number of times in my childhood (the life of a preacher’s / missionary’s family), but that never really phased me. What I was always looking forward to was the next big milestone: starting primary school in Africa; entering junior high school back in Florida; graduating high school; graduating college; starting my career; getting my first apartment; getting married; having a child. And along the way, I lived for every other first or next step or next achievement. I was always looking ahead at what came next. I was never satisfied with where I was.

Not only have I wasted time looking down the road, but I’ve spent too much emotional energy defining myself by other people’s titles or definitions of me. For example, when my family was meeting someone new, my parents would always introduce me as their “oldest” daughter or child. That registered deeply with me, making me feel a huge responsibility for the rest of the kids in our family. Not a bad thing, but definitely a label that stuck. And through the years I accepted other labels--professional, personal, societal--that defined me, some positively, some negatively.

Likewise, whenever I meet people and they ask, “What do you do?” I have always felt defined by my current job title, whatever that might be. I left my full-time teaching position when my child was three and both of Dan’s children were living at home; I decided that being a full-time mom was the most important thing that I could be doing. But suddenly, answering that question with, “I’m a full-time mom,” began eliciting the most condescending responses from the people asking the question . . . “Good for you; I’m sure you find it rewarding.” “Well, aren’t they lucky to have you there all the time.” As if all I was doing was sitting in the living room, waiting for them to ring a bell to call me to bring their toast. Seriously.

I have a friend who is a full-time mother and homemaker. I was delighted when I heard someone ask her a few years ago, “So what do you do?” She beamed as she responded heartily, “Oh, honey, I do LOTS of things!” And she does! (Don’t we all!?!)

Here’s my point: Life is too short to be waiting for something else to happen or for someone else to approve you for you to find fulfillment in life right where you are.

It’s that simple. There is nothing worth waiting for—no certificate, degree, or title—before making a difference in this world. Every one of us is valuable right this minute, and right this minute is a good time to get started with whatever it is that you want to do.

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:7-8).