From Days of Healing, Days of Joy

"Lives of great men all remind us, We can make our lives sublime, And departing, leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time"..................................................Henry Wasdworth Longfellow

Few of us ever think of ourselves as "great," and fewer still consider our lives "sublime." Yet there is no question that we will all depart life someday and leave some kind of footprints behind us. To our glory or regret, we all leave our marks.

Though we may not be aware of it, people do watch us. What we say and don't say, do and don't do, all have an effect on others. Our positive, hopeful attitude translates into encouraging applause for a struggling brother or sister, or our cutting remark may be the final douse of water on someone else's weak flame. Our actions and words do matter.

Let us look back at the footprints we have left so far. Do they lead toward recovery? It's not too late to strike out in a different direction.
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For these twenty -four hours, I will set an encouraging example to those around me.

Some of our "footprints" may not have been too encouraging in our past, but now we have the chance to strike out in a different direction, as the reading says. We can be a positive influence on those we love - and even strangers! What we say and do DOES influence those around us and it's never too late to leave positive footprints.