The words you put up in your home are the first words your children learn how to read, the first things they learn to understand, and the words that they see every single day. Whether or not you've realized it, you were affected by the words put up in your home. I know I was.
Growing up, we had a poem hanging on the wall that I'll never forget. My mom never talked about it, never told me where it came from or what it was about. But it got to me. Ever since I could read, I remember reading this poem on my mom's wall, and trying to figure out what it meant to me. Even at a very young age, before I could even understand all the words in the poem, these words made me analyze my life.
Compensation
by Edgar Albert Guest
I'd like to think when life is done
That I had filled a needed post.
That here and there I'd paid my fare
With more than idle talk and boast;
That I had taken gifts diving.
The breath of life and manhood fine,
And tried to use them now and then
In service for my fellow men.
I'd hate to think when life is through
That I had lived my round of years
A useless kind, that leaves behind
No record in this vale of tears;
That I had wasted all my days
By treading only selfish ways
And the this world would be the same
If it had never known my name.
I'd like to think that here and there,
When I am gone, there shall remain
A happier spot that might have not
Existed had I toiled for gain;
That someone's cheery voice and smile
Shall prove that I had been worth while;
That I had paid with something fine
My debt to God for life divine.
Now every time I go home and see this poem, it reminds who I want to be. These words that I've been reading since I was a little little girl still inspire me. This just goes to show that the words and signs you surround yourself with really do affect you, and can shape you. The signs you choose to put up in your homes will teach your children what you value, and what they should value.
So, maybe you'll think twice before you put up that "Keep Calm and Eat Cupcakes" sign in your kitchen.
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