Tracks In The Dust

A Father's Advice About Learning the Mission of Life

15 Aug 2013

Conditions and Compromise

It’s interesting how often these days interaction with someone can always come to “certain conditions”. Doing favors or helping someone with something can end up as a negotiation of sorts. Sort of the payback for things that are done.

The idea of “unconditional” love and friendship is still alive I think, It is definitely a spiritual center we all need to achieve. It makes our lives less complicated in a way. It is the grace of God. Yet it seems like there are days where things only happen under certain terms.

There are a lot of conditions in life. Sort of like: “I can help you with your problem, but IF I do you need to help me with mine.” Negotiation isn’t always bad, but it will struggle to lead to longer term relationships

Conditional love is the hardest one to cope with. Like trying to earn someone’s love and attention, it comes with a price. It has a manipulating qualifier to it. I will love you, if only you would be more attentive to my needs. I will love you if only you make enough time for me to do what I want to do.

It goes on and on : I will love you if you a) lose weight b) gain status, c) dress a certain way, d) be friends with the people I am friends with, e) NOT be friends with the people you are friends with. f) like the colour “blue” – or hundreds upon hundreds of other conditions.

There is something about compromise in a relationship (which is healthy) that can spill over into conditions. When it does there may not be an immediate way to recognize it. But it exists. And over time it can lead to resentment, to disillusion that ends in someone being very hurt.

So I always give my kids that advice, Be sure to “be yourself” and be aware of the difference between compromises in a relationship and conditions.

Practice Unconditional Love (alexiaisaak.com)

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Acceptance, Advice, Conditional, Doubt, God, Grace, Perception, Philosophy, relationship, Self-Awareness, Sprituality, Unconditional Love

12 Aug 2013

Casting Stones

In these days it seems like EVERYTHING allows for the opportunity to cast judgement. There are so many more ways that people can decide whether something is acceptable or not. And in a world where it seems everyone wants to be accepted, this can be crippling for many who are sensitive to the barrage of possible responses.

You cannot turn around without someone being critical of what you “meant” about something you may have said. Because things are forever text-ed into the www atmosphere, because we can twitter and post to our hearts content,…because the Internet allows everything to be put-out-there for all to see, and be reviewed over and over… it allows for scrutiny beyond anything I can recall in the past.

I mean, everyone has a camera in their pocket these days, and they can take still pictures or videos that can be interpreted out of context or maybe just show someone with their guard down. In turn that allows everyone to cast their judgement on it: Is it funny, insulting, weird, profound, lewd, frightening or whatever?

Many people seem to enjoy casting judgement on things in other peoples lives. Quick to make armchair criticisms and then provide a conditional response. There are “terms” to be settled after all… you must apologize for your behavior among friends since everyone else sees it. You must explain yourself. Make amends. Really?

In the end, past generations seem to have been less subject to public scrutiny, allowing them the courtesy of making a mistake among friends, to say something they later regretted and have a short list to apologize to… Like the Bible story, “casting the first stone” has taken new meaning. The speed of that “cast” is super fast and can allow hundreds, or thousands of others to virtually “pile on” in the process.

One consolation: It shows proof that as humans’ ……..NOBODY is perfect.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Casting Judgement, choices, Compassion, conditional response, Nobody is perfect, Opinion, Postive Thinking, Public Scrutiny, Reality Check, Regrets, Social Networking, Taking Responsibility, Twitter

29 Jul 2013

6 Comments

Join Me On the Radio

I will be on the radio; join me on the Internet streaming site!

A secret about me (probably because I haven’t talked about my college years for a long time). As I worked toward my degree (Communications) back around 1980 I was also “on the air” at the college radio station. A public radio stations where students could learn the craft ( I was focused on broadcasting). As the station manager I learned a lot about running a business, but my favorite time was getting on the radio and sharing music and information to the people on campus and around the city where the university was located (in the heart of the great northern state of Wisconsin USA).

So many of us from that time (late 1970’s to early 1980’s) are coming back for a reunion and 4 days of radio merriment. Also to raise funds for our school.

To All My Tracks In The Dust followers: If you want to listen ON THE INTERNET it will be available to stream at this link (for Windows and I-tunes users): http://www.uwsp.edu/wwsp/Pages/default.aspx

You can join me LIVE for 2 hours on Thursday August 1st from Noon to 2 pm:

That is 12:00 PM CDT US to 2:00 PM CDT US. And of course join any time you wish. I can promise you that some of the music will be classic time-machine stuff, but expect some fairly eclectic stuff as well.

Wherever you are; whether you join or not- keep music in your heart always!

Mark

Let’s Get Exposed: College Radio Stations (altavozdistroco.com)
26 Signs You Were A College Radio DJ (buzzfeed.com)

Posted in Life's Sound Track (Music) and tagged 90FM WWSP, Campus radio, college radio station, college radio stations, Music, Public broadcasting, public radio stations, Radio, Rock music, tracks in the dust, Wisconsin

23 Jul 2013

2 Comments

You Are The New Day

You Are the New Day.

You can make the difference every day.

One of my favorite songs (traditional) by a group I listened to often long ago.

Go out and make a difference and be involved in someone’s life. Don’t close yourself off to living. Life is short.

Posted in Life's Sound Track (Music) and tagged choices, Emotion, favorite songs, Happiness, Memories, Music, new day, Postive Thinking, Rock music, Self-Awareness

09 Jul 2013

The “Scale of Accountability” Again

Nearly every day something will trigger the Scale of Accountability. It keeps coming back to mind to me. I posted this last year, but it is something that has been great to keep a perspective on things on so many levels.

Often I see people around me angered and frustrated with the situations they are in- I hear them explaining things away as though they are “circumstantial” or must be blamed on other things around them. I wonder what their life is like day-to-day. Are they feeling like a victim; acting like a victim?

There are so many of those people who seem to appear in so many places in life. They seem to be lost because they don’t have a “center” in their lives, but they aren’t looking for one either. Often they surround themselves with more people who feel the way they do, which just makes it all the easier to stay in the place they are. They are unsure why they are stuck in a place they don’t want to be, but that is “the way it is” they’ll say…

So I ask my kids to be accountable to themselves and also to the life they choose and to God. Be aware, take action when they need to make a difference in what is happening. Things will change. Life will take on a new meaning.

The Scale of Accountability: What direction do you take?

Are You Accountable?