Explaining my favourite quote

I have taken part in a few speech contests recently. Last Saturday I took part in a contest at Cranfield University, and the contest MC interviewed me in front of the audience afterwards. 'What's your favourite quote?' he asked.

'I really like the one from Maya Angelou' I replied. 'People don't remember what you do, people don't remember what you say. People remember how you make them feel'.

I remember reading those words for the first time about ten years ago. They resonated with me then as they do now. I constantly ask myself, how do I make people feel? My partner, my family, my friends, my business associates, my customers. Am I the sort of person people want to be around? Do I make people feel good, or am I someone who brings people down? No-one can be positive all the time, so I try to keep myself to myself when I'm not feeling so great. Generally, I think people who know me would say that I'm a positive person to be around, but I could be more so, especially in some areas of my life. Perhaps I need to move on from those areas and find other ways of making a difference.

I naturally gravitate towards people who make me feel good. I'm lucky to have a great partner who makes me feel amazing. The work I do, on the whole, leaves me feeling good, because I am usually aware that we are moving forward in some way.

What about you? How do you make the people in your life feel? How positive an experience is it being around you? When was the last time you showed appreciation to your partner, a colleague, an associate, a member of your family? Let's be better people to be around, more thoughtful, more understanding, more appreciative.