Yesterday morning at the end of my 6:30 a.m. yoga class I could not find the planned reading I had saved on my phone. Something else popped up and insisted I read it at the end of Savasana.

In the last week talking with close friends and reading blogs I keep seeing the same themes: uncertainty, fear, anger, frustration, scarcity and acting from wounded places. Me included. This is why I offer this reading as a salve to all of us.

Continue by Maya Angelou

My wish for you Is that you continue

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To be who and how you are To astonish a mean world With your acts of kindness

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To allow humor to lighten the burden Of your tender heart

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In a society dark with cruelty To let the people hear the grandeur Of God in the peals of your laughter

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To let your eloquence Elevate the people to heights They had only imagined

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To remind the people that Each is as good as the other And that no one is beneath Nor above you

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To remember your own young years And look with favor upon the lost And the least and the lonely

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To put the mantle of your protection Around the bodies of The young and defenseless

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To take the hand of the despised And diseased and walk proudly with them In the high street Some might see you and Be encouraged to do likewise

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To plant a public kiss of concern On the cheek of the sick And the aged and infirm And count that as a Natural action to be expected

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To let gratitude be the pillow Upon which you kneel to Say your nightly prayer And let faith be the bridge You build to overcome evil And welcome good

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To ignore no vision Which comes to enlarge your range And increase your spirit

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To dare to love deeply And risk everything For the good thing

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To float Happily in the sea of infinite substance Which set aside riches for you Before you had a name

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And by doing so You and your work Will be able to continue Eternally