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

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

01 Apr 2014

April Fools

We all get fooled some of the time. Some people make a living every day trying to convince you of things that aren’t true.

Sometimes I think we Laughing Walrus want to believe what we hear, we want to see something on the Internet and immediate accept it. Not everything is true, some times things are partly true, and some other times many things may be entirely false. We have to be ready to understand that I guess, but how we weigh it out may not always be totally true at all.

If it fits in our sensibilities, it could be more than enough to allow us to fit it into our truth. So when the day comes for “April Fools” day on the first of April, everyone is a bit more suspicious when they hear something they think may possibly not be true. Its like on the next day April 2nd that is all back to normal. Of course then it wouldn’t be as funny, “just kidding”.

Unfortunately I think we are all suspect of telling things that aren’t entirely true to help make things fit in our lives. We send out twitter messages, point blame because we want to believe something, we pass along gossip or make up things to cover our tracks or guilt.

So for here in the US, April 1st means happy April Fool’s day. Perhaps we all need to be a bit more careful every day…

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Advice, April Fools, Change, choices, mental-health, moments, Opinion, Philosophy, Reality Check, Self-Awareness

20 Mar 2014

Paper or Plastic?

Does it all come down to that? Sometimes it feels like it. Asking the question what kind of grocery bags you want at the store.Here in the US some stores give you the option. And you have to “call it”. Paper or Plastic.

Do you weigh out the environment and be a responsible consumer? Maybe where you live you aren’t even given the choice ( thanks Austin, Texas and other points west). Some communities have already outlawed plastic, others expect you to bring your own bags with you. ( and I have noticed a lot of them are just a different version of plastic).

But that’s not my point I guess. Paper or plastic kind of reflects on other things. Maybe how you see yourself? How you fit in the solution.

I mean those plastic bags only hold so much, a few things and on to the next bag. They are fast to peel off the stack of hundreds and are neatly stacked to be opened as you pull them off. Mass produced. Opaque and crunchy. They often find themselves lining the next small wastepaper basket,or carrying some gross thing from your favorite pet in its afterlife. Are you a plastic? or maybe you are a paper?

Paper bags. Bags like these have been around for decades to “sack-groceries.” Those brown containers with little chips of pulp. Many have handles to help better grasp them for even more utility. Square with room for plenty, but be careful of the weight. Of course rather than another bag you can always double bag. And they are bio-degrade-able (which sounds so environmentally conscious). If they get wet they can tear, if they survive they can be used for wrapping books or drawing on, making a kite or… just going in the trash or recycle bin to have another shot at life.

SO, are you a “paper” or “plastic” person when given the choice?

Wonder what the choice says about you? Or then maybe you bring your own bag… and that’s another kind of you all together?

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged choices, Doubt, Opinion, Paper or Plastic, Postive Thinking, Reality Check, Sprituality, Truth, Who Are You

18 Mar 2014

Respecting Life’s Lessons, Life Flows On

There is something about understanding your own choices, though not everyone wants to try to. It means admitting that you are the person in control of the course you are taking in your life. After all is said and done, life’s lessons seem to be the most indelible. Looking back. they have the most meaning and impact our futures. Though it is more popular these days to look for others to blame I think.

I mean all the warnings, all the advice, all those things I have told my kids from my life’s lessons as a parent are things they can decide fit in their lives or not. I could have shamed them into believing them, I could have punished them and made them believe. I could have reasoned with them ( but in those rebellious teen years there wasn’t a lot of reasoning). Still they decided it was valuable to find their way by “being independent” and did things that didn’t always make sense to me. Often it led to those regrettable moments,that they had to end up dealing with personally .

So life’s lessons are the best way to learn, as it seems as though those lessons are the hardest. Mistakes we are making that can break us, can take us to a path we would never have chosen.

As I look back I have to admit that there were plenty of those decisions I made in the past. Knowing that things could be different now doesn’t change it. Knowing I didn’t always take other’s advice had its reward and its regrets.

What I have learned: One of the most important personal life’s lesson: Respect the lesson’s from the past, weigh the advice that others give you. And as I had recently posted … in the end be true to yourself (as I recently posted). Life flows on.

Within You Without You”

We were talking about the space between us all
And the people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth, then it’s far too late, when they pass away
We were talking about the love we all could share
When we find it, to try our best to hold it there with our love
With our love, we could save the world, if they only knew

Try to realize it’s all within yourself
No one else can make you change
And to see you’re really only very small
And life flows on within you and without youWe were talking about the love that’s gone so cold
And the people who gain the world and lose their soul
They don’t know, they can’t see, are you one of them?

When you’ve seen beyond yourself then you may find
Peace of mind is waiting there
And the time will come when you see we’re all one
And life flows on within you and without you

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life, Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life, Life's Sound Track (Music) and tagged Beatles, Change, choices, Faith, Life, life is precious, Life Lessons, Love, making mistakes, Music, Postive Thinking, Religion and Spirituality, Rock music, Self-Awareness, Self-esteem, Songs About Life, tracks in the dust, Who Are You

06 Mar 2014

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Be True to Yourself

There is a very long story, from a very long time ago that I have rarely shared.

Over ten years ago my first-born son left home to go out on his own. He had met someone on the Internet and became friends with her during his early teen years. When he turned 18 he decided he wanted to move away to be with her.

Perhaps a classic story of the prodigal son. Perhaps something that would have ended up on one of those hyper-active sensational TV talk shows [did I say it was a long story?]. It was painful as my wife and I and the rest of our family watched our son take what seemed a drastic 180 degree turn in his life and leave home with someone who we had never realized existed to that point.

There were a thousand things we wanted to say to him. There still are, though I doubt he’d listen. Yet over time and a highly emotional roller coaster of feelings, he has been out of contact with our family for over 10 years.

In reality there is only one thing to say to him. It was something that struck me the other day [another long story]. It is something I have to believe that my other three children have learned. Perhaps even because of their oldest brother, perhaps just because we had to live it with them again and again.

Be true to yourself. Don’t lie to yourself, but be honest to what you know in your core are the right things to do and be.

Sure, you will make mistakes, you will find yourself doing and saying things that aren’t really part of the inner center you have come to know. But in the end, be true to who you know you are. Use compassion and forgiveness and the awareness that you are part of the human race and God’s plan for it. Make peace with what you are. But don’t sell yourself short. You have the potential to be the person you know you could be. I am not talking about riches, or fame. But be the “person” that defines your spiritual inner self. God will be your guide.

So to my three wonderful kids, I give them this advice. Don’t deny it. Be true to yourself, to who you are.

To my long-lost first son. If there was one thing to say…

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Acceptance, Be True to Yourself, Compassion, Family, Lying to Yourself, Postive Thinking, Reality Check, Self-Awareness, Slow Down, Truth

04 Feb 2014

Songs About “Home”

There is somethings about the word “HOME” that conjures up a lot of feelings.

A destination perhaps, the place you live for sure- but a lot more than that.

A place of comfort – safety. A familiar place. A place for happiness or defeat. Some may see it as a place to run away from. Many may see it is a place they want to return to, while others may see it as something they want to re-create in their lives based on their emotional past.

Home can be where the heart is, or can be what brings you back to the grounding you needed after you have drifted or traveled so far away from it. Like a homecoming. It can contain all of your things that allow you to regain your confidence in who you are, or contain all of the people who are there to reinforce what you were. It can be the place you want to forget on your journey to a new life, or the place you never want to leave because protects you from the unknown.

Home for the holidays, home is anywhere you hang your hat, home sweet home, home is where the heart is, home coming, leaving home, home is where you were born, home is where you ended up, home is where your parents live, a house is not a home, home alone, home together, home at last, running from home, headed home, home by the sea, home on the hill, … the songs and references are endless.

Before you hit your “home” button.