Tracks In The Dust

19 Mar 2012

Organization in the Clutter of Life

It seems sometimes it is so important to get organized in your life, than other times it seems that the freedom to let it all go makes perfect sense.

Those times when everything needs to be in order. You know, you look around and everything seems cluttered, out-of-place, displaced from the space it belongs in. The clutter can lead to confusion, to that feeling of being off-balance. Nothing is where it needs to be, and you can’t imagine how it got that way. Maybe just a victim of every-day living, running its paces and little by little things just go out-of-order. Other times it can just seem like one day it is all good and the next nothing seems in place.

All good are those opposite days, when you seem to be flowing back and forth though the daily machine of living…so at ease. Nothing bothers you , nothing goes according to plan, but you don’t care. The constant changes feel good, like surprises you can cherish one at a time. The changes seem to nearly confirm the confidence in those unorganized days being temporary. Bring the changes on!

But those days where it is cluttered, every noise seems to rub you the wrong way, like the high-pitched squeal of fingers on a chalkboard (do they have those anymore?). Nothing any one says seems to sit well with you, and you find fault in even the littlest of things. You become annoyed at nearly everything.

That’s when you need to reach deep, and take a deep breath. Reach deep into yourself and meditate on the important things in your life, in your love of the higher being, your center that brings you to your awareness. The awareness of everyone around you, and you in the world surrounded by everything else.

You find yourself re-arranging the clutter, putting things back in their place. You find new places for some of the things in your life, you throw out others. You move-on with the people and ideas that aren’t working the way you thought. You re-engage with the lovers and friends that you know will be there, whether you are all-together organized, or just totally bouncing from place to place like a rubber ball.

So today realize that not every day can be exactly as you plan, not every thing in your space can be exactly where it belongs. Some days when you struggle to organize things, it just isn’t the right day, other days it comes so easily that you have to sit down at the end of the day and be thankful. But either way, take a breath and appreciate the essential things that make you who you are, since you are the only “you” you have. Love yourself for what you are and what you can be.

Posted in Before and After Things Change and tagged choices, clutter, control, life is precious, Organization

17 Mar 2012

In A Hurry

Being in a hurry seems to be standard practice these days. Everything moves so quickly, like a high speed connection on the Internet, a picture or a comment becomes instantly shared with the world.
We seem to be asked to grow up so quickly, get on with things and be fast about it. Be sure what you want and go get it before someone else gets it.

We make split decisions about so many things, some are not so important while others are critical… But there we go. Like a speeding car on the highway, zooming ahead like we are in a race. If we stop to look too long, will someone notice our indecision? Will we be accused of lingering, running behind?

In slower times we may have had time to contemplate the road ahead. We may have taken time to imagine the consequences of our our direction. instead we are told “just go for it”- carpe diem. Later we ask the questions that may often be too late. Things we may not even noticed before. Regrettably we missed them, those valuable clues to the quality of life and living.

So now we move ahead, trying to get by. Taking things as they come and showing our bravery by dealing with it. But how much have we missed? Take care to take a moment and breathe it in, sample the surroundings and admire the shear beauty of the simple things that are there. They remain the landscape of our life in which we exist, in this moment until the next-never to return again to the moment we are in. Except to remember it as best we can, hopefully not in a blur but in a panoramic image of wonderful memories.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged cherish, Life, Memories, moments

15 Mar 2012

1 Comment

You’re Not Alone

It’s ironic that sometimes you can be in a room full of people and still feel alone. There are billions of people in the world, and still you can feel like you are the only one there- alone.

You’re not alone. I think everyone has those times when they may want “alone time” – You know you need it -just finding that place that you actually feel comfortable in your self. Even wandering among the busy city streets can actually feel like a wonderful by-yourself moment sometimes.

Then there seems like those times with friends, maybe out on the lawn by the grill with a cold drink, or laying back at a local pub, or walking in the park and just spending time talking about the rest of the world – like the world is somewhere else and you and your friends or family are at the center of it.

But in the end that shadow of “alone” can often lurk- somewhere behind the front door of your home, or in the car on your way to an appointment. Surrounded by thousands of things that should remind you that there are millions of people who feel just like you. Millions who are also feeling alone in a huge world of people and things. But there you are.

I realized years ago when I was diagnosed with cancer that I am never alone. I have the best family and wife one could ask for, but I knew also that I had more. Someday when I arrive in heaven, I know I will not be alone. I am not sure if I will see all of you there (that would be another blog entirely)- but honestly I pray I do.

Appreciate your one-ness, you are unique. No matter where you are however, you are not alone. You have choices, you have more ways than ever in history to reach out and find out that there are so many others, waiting alone together.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Alone, Being Alone, More, Self-Awareness, tracks in the dust, You Are Not Alone

13 Mar 2012

Our Fear Factor

I have noticed more lately than ever before how much fear there is in the world. It is a controlling part of so many people’s lives. It’s simple things like being sure you wear the right thing when you go outside, or being sure you say the right things. But it can be more complicated; like fear of losing your possessions, or your relationship with someone, or losing the life of a loved one.

Like wandering down a dark street wondering what hides in the shadows, we often wonder thru life fearful of its outcome. We take the necessary steps to be on the defense and be sure that we don’t get hurt – but we do many of these things as a sacrifice to our life and what it could be. Sometimes fear generates anger, sometimes it generates sadness, other times doubt. But in defense of fear we also keep so many other things from entering our lives as well.

Being on the offense against fear can often lead us to do reckless things that we can learn to regret later. The offensive could mean we lose friends, we hurt ourselves carelessly or we falsely take on things that we shouldn’t have. Either way it puts us in the middle of reacting to everything with a single lens to look though ( and they aren’t rose-colored).

A good friend of mine once pointed out to me that the opposite of love doesn’t seem to be hate, it seems to be fear. If that is true, we do a great job of insulating ourselves from love, we don’t say things we could to others, we make decisions to continue relationships or end them purely based on fear. A lot of psychologist couches are occupied by people who have not been able to honestly share their love with/for another person – I imagine often because of fear.

Our love of God is compromised, our love of our fellow humans is painted with all sorts of prejudices. We isolate family and friends because of it. Is like FDR once said “We have nothing to fear but fear itself”? Can we exchange fear with love? Or will we forever be measuring our “fear-factors”?

It sometimes makes me sad to think we have so much more to give. Okay – I fear I have written too much. I am done now.

Posted in Before and After Things Change and tagged Doubt, Fear, God, Love

07 Mar 2012

1 Comment

A Combination of Reflections

Something I always wanted to tell my kids, and didn’t get to enough. Personal reflection, like a mirror, is not always easy to look at. You are a combination of so many things that came before you: your family, your friends, your lovers,your teachers, your spritual mentors, even your enemies. And when you stare into the mirror, what do you see?
There are days to see your successes, days where you wonder how you got “here” and times when the only thing you see looks like a stranger. Days when you don’t like yourself very much, and others when you can’t believe you could be happier. No matter what you see you have to be ready to put your life & your reflection in perspective ( sort of like moving closer to the mirror or standing way back). You are the person you are now. You can choose to accept it or choose to change it. You can look for small things to do, or make sweeping changes that could effect the entire direction of your life.

Accept change, embrace the unknown future with hope. Someone once said that life was like a roller coaster, or it could be more like a merry-go-round. Either way it is moving and you are in it- made up of everything that you have experienced since the day you were born. Take joy in that, make a difference in all you do… while you are here on Earth, and share the mission of the tracks you are making.