Taking a slow walk on the cool sandy beach after a day’s hard work or after a week of a seemingly never-ending list of activities, one cannot help noticing repeated impressions made on the white wet sandy surface of the beach which immediately remind you of nothing but the human feet. Yes indeed, I mean the human feet which slide in and fit well in our shoes. These impressions are known as footprints and they commonly inform us that some one took the same walk on that same sandy surface some days, hours, minutes or seconds ago. But irrespective of how beautiful, large or positioned these impressions (footprints)are made, they are eventually covered by the same sand that supported their molded figure with the aid of in-coming water waves or wind, leaving the surface as smooth and plain as it was before the impressions (footprints) were made, indirectly giving room for another cast.
Life is a beautiful thing. To the new born babe, it is the sweet milk that is waiting to be sucked from the breasts of a joyful mother; to the toddler, it is all about discovering fundamental characteristics of being human in a brand new world; to the growing kid, it is all about fun and learning in an attempt to lay the basic foundation of a promising future; to the teenager, it involves a high dissipation of energy in an attempt to be in line with the ethics of a dynamic world; to the young adult, it’s all about having dreams and hopes of a near-perfect and glorious future; to the mid-aged-adult, it is an actual transformation from a dreamer to a partaker of the realities of the uneasy life; to the elderly and the old, it is a time to recap beautiful moments of the years gone by in preparation for a glorious exit to high heavens. To the farmer, life is beautiful and abundant harvest of fresh crops after a long planting season; to the lecturer and the teacher, it is the end of another tutorial episode; to the student, it is the joy, gladness, and satisfaction of acing all courses; to the banker, it is the wonderful feeling of having soon many depositors; to the entrepreneur, it is a well and just concluded business deal; and to the sailor, it is a cool sail across the oceans without or after a heavy ocean storm. No matter how and what we define life as, we are the architects, the builders and the roofers.
We live in a dynamic world with a high degree of civilization which makes us unique as a plant. From cradle to grave, we, the major inhabitants of our world, engage in daily energy-driven activities in order to justify our existence. By being major players of life’s activities, we struggle to the best in order to see who is better. We devise ways of doing things and even go as far as employing some kind of technology to boost our speed and accuracy. The end product is usually success or sometimes, failure.
Everyone in the human race wants to be associated with success in as much as it is not easy to come by. Of surprise note is the fact that not many are ready to scale the high hurdles which litter the path of success. These hurdles are scaled with PURPOSE, PREPARATION, HARDWORK, and DETERMINATION by the belief, inspiration and guidance of a supreme being in this case, GOD. They are footprints which are left/ made in the pathway of success (the sandy beach). They are inspirations to the next generation, they propulsion forces to our final destination and serve as justifications for our existence as the years come and go. PURPOSE defines the reason for our stay here on earth. It puts in us a vision and a mission. PREPARATION involves planning (effective planning). DETERMINATION is a dogged attitude which is geared towards achieving the set goal or objective while HARDWORK is the dedication towards achieving the set goal.
Great makers of the earth’s brief history are remembered for the impacts they made on the existence of mankind. These great men, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Benjamin Franklin, John F. Kennedy, etc., all left footprints for us to follow.
I so much admire their plan of action, hardwork and endless determination they put in towards the good of mankind. However, it is important to note that these men had good moral standards which helped in deforming their purpose.
One of the beauties of life is seeing a new generation who have learnt from the older ones, positive lifestyles. It will someday fit into the shoes of a weak elder, whose energy is depleting. Just like little ducklings which follow a mother duck, the next generation looks up to us for guidance. They await an exemplary life style which they can follow. Therefore, a great importance is attached to a positive lifestyle characterized by truth, decency, love, respect, hardwork, determination, peaceful co-existence, planning, a high degree of morality and loyalty to the almighty. They are footprints which the next generation should and must see on the sandy beaches of life.
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