Maya Angelou Defeat

We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated. ~ Maya Angelou
No one wants to be defeated, but sometimes we do have defeats. For example, the United States lost some battles in the Civil War but in the end they won the war. Maya Angelou is known for expressing this idea of perseverance through one of her famous quotes. This quote stood out to me because, like everyone else, I have faced obstacles that have knocked me down once or twice. It is one’s own choice if they want to stand back up and succeed or if they want to allow themselves to be defeated by a difficult situation. In track, there have been many times when I had an off day, and I did not compete to my fullest ability in one event. However, I cannot afford to let that

get to me in my other events. I can mess up in shot put, but I have to shake it off in order to run my best in the four hundred meter relay because people are counting on me and I cannot let the team down just because I had a bad throw. Of course this I very minor example of a challenge, but it can still apply in the same way during more serious situations. When we suffer defeat we must use it to reflect what challenges we are willing to make in ourselves and in our lives in order to overcome them. It could also be life changing events that are guiding us into our true calling. If we never rise to the challenge, we will never see what true potential we really hold.

People can look past their downfalls and strive for a better tomorrow, or they can dwell on it and let it ruin their next opportunities. I also like this quote because of the word must. This is a powerful work that emphasizes the fact that people are strong, and they have to keep moving forward. Maya Angelou faced many hardships in her life, such as racism, and she still pushed past them and made something of herself. Her battles are undoubtedly much more significant than most, but everyone can still relate to her beautiful quotes. If Maya Angelou can persevere through racism when racism was at one of its harshest peaks then one can deal with just about anything he or she is having trouble with in his or her life. If this quote was not true then the human race would not have lasted this long in such a tragic world. We are a species that is built to withstand both mental and physical ordeals and to even come out stronger on the other side. Things may look bleak from time to time, that is life, but there are many battles in a single war. We may all be at different battlefields and some wars may be more intense than others, but it is important to remember that

everyone battles something. We must all keep fighting; we must never be defeated.