Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life | Tracks In The Dust

Archive for the category “Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life”

04 Sep 2013

The Results of a Job Well Done

I have been away from blogging lately because my wife and have been working on a major home remodeling project. The end result will be to make our home more comfortable and attractive of course; more to our liking to make those casual days at home provide more pleasant surroundings.

But we also realized something else when we most recently spent a holiday weekend (3 days) working hard on the project at hand. Working hard for those changes also meant a new change for our environment, but also a great feeling of accomplishment. Sure you can get the reward of accomplishment at work or school, and those too can be satisfying. But also making your “living space” more personal, more “you” – and working hard to do it has its own reward.

There are weekends when we spend the entire weekend being as casual as we can- “at rest” and we know that we have earned it after a long week of work and errands. So we appreciate it and make sure we do those things that are worthy of the casual time we had invested. After-all, after the weekend it will be back to work… back to focusing on earning our keep, taking on the responsibilities we have become accustomed.

But its interesting that the results of the work-filled weekend of projects has some feeling of satisfaction that is equal to (maybe even more than) the casual weekends we have spent. A moment to stand-back and admire the sweat equity of our labor. We have made improvements to our nest, we have increased our comfort. Some long hours of making things better for the sake of “us”- not for the earnings, not for the rewards for recognition from others. Simply for the knowing that we have produced a “job well done” and we get to embrace the rewards we have created … whew.

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Acceptance, Change, choices, Emotion, Feeling of accomplishment, perspective on life, Philosophy, Sweat equity, Work–life balance, Working time

22 Aug 2013

How Many Friends?

Flickr friends (Photo credit: Meer)

In the days of social media the term “friends” has taken on a whole different meaning. Years ago before the word became a measurement of success by accumulating the highest number possible, friends were more likely the genuine type.

Yes, there were those fleeting friends that came and went, some you may not be able to recall their last name or exactly where they were inserted in your life. But there were those friends that mean something even now. It doesn’t mean that you text them every day, or write emails to them even monthly, but they are “there” and they represent a place in your history that is significant.

Those friends may count for a large portion of who you are, or they had made an impression that was mutual as you traveled through the timeline (another word that has changed its meaning these days). They may be the closest confidant or someone who you shared experiences with that were beyond the every day trip to the shopping mall.

Friends can count (instead of counting friends) – and can make the difference. It is still amazing that in those cases you can meet up with them after a long absence, and start right where you left off. You can enjoy the news of what has happened in their lives as more that just a casual observer. You can embrace their family or friendships they have made along they way and appreciate that history.

There are those friends that are there for you, at a moments notice. No matter how silly it may seem in the afterthought, they were there for you in the moment, It provides one of the real purposes in your life as you live it.

There is this song that I remember from a long time ago (1975) from The Who. It reminds me that true friendships are precious and should be cherished. They take you as you are…

The Friends You Can Count On (thesimpledollar.com)

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life, Life's Sound Track (Music) and tagged Acceptance, Emotion, Faith, Friends, Friendship, Genuine Friends, life is precious, Music, Real Friends, Social media, The Who

20 Aug 2013

4 Comments

You Can Never Go Back

Lately I have found myself with the chance to visit with old friends I haven’t seen in ages. It has been an absolute joy. The echoes of the remembrances are fun to hear, and I have realized they have so much importance in who I am today.

But as much fun as it is to look at the past and enjoy the things that made that time special (although it didn’t always seem that special at the time), just can’t help thinking about the adage ” You can never go back”

That isn’t a bad thing, if you did go back in time knowing what you know now, it would certainly be different. If you went back to the present day friends and haunts from the past, it wouldn’t be the same either. Yes, it is okay to visit and capture those memories and have a chance to relive some of the experience. But in the long-run you will out stay your welcome – reality comes back and you would notice you are older (but hopefully wiser) – maybe a bit more jaded and less willing to accept the things that may not have bothered you in the past.

So as my wife and I have said to our kids often enough, be sure to be facing forward in your life, look for the next opportunity to grow in your life, spiritual growth, and all of the things that you can reach for.
Don’t forget who you are either, It is that past that brought you here. You cannot discard it like it didn’t happen, you lived it and it served you as well as it could. You made good decisions, experienced bad ones, had some luck and misfortune along the way.
Take nothing for granted, life is short and you need to wrap yourself in all of what it is- past, present and future. But you can’t ever go back and have it be the same,.. but the future is left to be written.

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged being remembered, cherish, choices, Future, Looking Back, Memories, moments, Opinion, Remembering the past

27 Jun 2013

2 Comments

Letting Go

Let go!

There is a lot of comfort in “status-quo”. There are reasons that you like “the way things are”. Being firmly entrenched in the pattern you are in can sometimes feel good.

A lot of people thrive on change. In fact for me when things DON’T change it kind of makes me think that something might be wrong. I know that sounds like I am always waiting for the “other shoe” to drop… which is sort of sad I guess. But change is okay too, it has its ability to provide the kind of variety that keeps life interesting, and makes one be more aware of things along the way.

But for others I guess there is that comfort of keeping things the way they are.

As my kids got older I think my wife and struggled for a long time understanding that our children were looking outward on their lives and not focused on the “family” that made up our history. We realized we could not center everything on them, as we had in their younger days growing up. Not that they didn’t want to be part of our family, just that they were looking for the next-thing and needed to work it on their own. After all that is part of growing up, and although the flexibility to change is more difficult later in life due to so many of the anchors and roots we put on ourselves. There is likely always the “next-thing” around the corner – if we were looking for it.

But those others who are comfortable, they aren’t always looking for the next thing. The needs of the next thing may not be evident, and they may be frightening or mysterious. But that comfort can be constricting. The next-thing may very well come without warning.

A job goes away, health, finances, catastrophe, or just a change in the simple pattern of daily life can be devastating and make that comfortable life seem to slip away so quickly it leaves no time to pause. That alone can be constricting. It can stall out what will need to happen next, it can lead to depression and denial.

So it is important (I think) to get accustomed to “letting go” things and taking courses in life that could be risky or unfamiliar. Letting go can lead to changes that you don’t expect, that you can’t even imagine.

Letting go is hard. No promises, but lots of promising prospects. Is it time to let go of something?

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Behavior, Change, choices, denial, Depression, Doubt, Faith, Letting Go, Memories, mental-health, Postive Thinking, Reality Check, Self-Awareness, Something New, The next thing, waiting for the other shoe to drop

26 Jun 2013

2 Comments

Appreciating Acceptance

Since as early as pre-school it would seem that there is a desire for acceptance. A desire or perhaps a need to be part of the “group” that has some common goal, even if that is just to be the first on the playground or have the same favorite color or game.

Even more later in life I suppose, as we move into our adolescent years, there is a strong desire (maybe part of the hormones) to be accepted. Be part of a team or a clique, be accepted by the person(s) we romantically desire. Even for those anti-society “rebels without a cause” there is a reason to be accepted in a group.

There a likely hundreds upon thousands of academic books about this topic. I am sure that they all wrap things up into some human characteristic that is inherent in our DNA or something. Wonderful that so many pages can be written to draw up a conclusion about the whole thing of acceptance.

For us in the adult world – most of us are always in need of things like friendships, acceptance in our work spaces with our peers and the boss, relating to others on all sorts of levels on topics from crafts to politics.

There is one place that isn’t often part of that equation as it should be in my view: church. A place where all people are seeking acceptance, and looking for others that see that opportunity to be accepted as well. Just talking about the gathering of people- not the building, but the church as a collective of people who believe that the mission is to continue to extend the hope, spirit and faith. Surrounding yourself with people who have the same perspective can become refueling for the soul.

I think that the first step to positively appreciate your acceptance, is to recognize and accept the spiritual guidance that is inside of you, and accepting yourself first.

I tell my kids to focus on knowing what you need and why you think you need it. Learn to be yourself if you want to be accepted by others. If you don’t know who “you” are – how are you going to gain acceptance from others? how can you even to accept others?