Saturday, July 24, 2010

The Way You Make Me Feel

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
-Maya Angelou

I crossed paths with this quote just the other day and I must say it's amazing how a few relatable words can be life-changing. I love the simplicity and truthfulness of Miss Angelou's wisdom. It isn't flourished with pretty words or hidden under a metaphor. Straight forward and honest, I wish everything in life was serve in such manner.

The significance in these few words stem from the fact I have a tendency to value myself based on exterior qualities. For example, when I get rejected by a guy, it is one of the most puzzling experiences for me. My thought process goes a little something like this... I'm attractive, I'm smart, I'm hilarious...and I'm caring, what the hell is wrong with that guy!?!

What I completely FAILED to notice all along is that people don't care about how pretty you are, or how smart you are, or how successful you are. All people care about is the way you make them feel. Do you make them happy? Do you make them sad? Do you bring them pleasure or pain? I do it, you do it, we all do it. We keep those in our life that make us feel the way we want, and discard of those that don't.

The way you make someone feel will leave an everlasting impression. They way you make someone feel is the strongest connection you can have with another human being. People do not connect with you based on what you are on the outside.

It makes complete sense to me now. Earlier this summer I met this guy and our relationship seriously did not even make it pass two weeks! Yet he definitely left a mark and I wondered for the longest time 'why and how'? Time soon exposed how ugly of a person he was, but I still cared about him, a tiny part of me still wanted him. I hated the way I felt and questioned myself every single day. Until I came across this lovely quote. You see, during our courtship, he made me extremely happy. It was a feeling I haven't experienced in a long time. So it didn't matter how much of a jerk he was, my heart just recalled his capability to make me happy. I am so glad to finally understand why the heck I felt that way.

So if you want to have an effect on anyone, don't focus on the exterior, focus on making them feel the way they want, usually some form of happiness... 8)

3 comments:

MaiZer said...

I love me some John Legend <3

Anonymous said...

Very well written. I love your writing style. :)

Phamtastic said...

Oh thank you! That is such a huge compliment because I've always struggled with language arts. 8)