Tracks In The Dust

A Father's Advice About Learning the Mission of Life

Archive for the tag “Acceptance”

12 Jun 2014

Take The Weight Off

No, it is not a diet edict. This weight is the weight we all carry, regardless of our physical appearance. It is the weight that becomes a burden that we come to be dependent upon. It is that heaviness that we don’t want, but no change in diet or physical exercise is going to remove it.

It is the weight of information. and we are all subject to that these days. One time stored in encyclopedias, reported in newspapers and magazines and complied in text books – the information for those of us who have access to the Internet seems nearly infinite. Mistaking that for knowledge is another thing. The nearly infinite source does not have a definitive declaration of the truth, but only the versions of the truth we come to find there.

I love the Tom Waits picture below. It is pretty profound. It is the weight of the things in our lives. Here in America we collect things to make us more important. From what I can tell is that way in many other places around the world too. The more we have (information, possessions, money,friends, etc) the more we think we will be happy. Abundance can sometimes seem to translate to safer life, or a better life. But hopefully that is understood. It is not going to ever be enough. And as the adage says “you can’t take it with you”.

Kids, my advice is to understand where you are, and know how you should see it? There is more.

DO you have the weight of the world carting around on your soul? Of have you found that there is much more than that?

Love this quality video from The Band. The Weight.

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life, Life's Sound Track (Music) and tagged Acceptance, Burdens of Life, Change, choices, Faith, Hope, information, Information Age, mental-health, Reality Check, Self-Awareness, The Band, Tom Waits, Too Much Information, What is imporant

09 Jun 2014

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Our 35 Years of Sharing

There is no way to put it into perspective completely. Today my wife and I celebrate 35 years of being married.

It has been a marriage filled with joy and sorrow, adventure and patience, love and anger, some victories and some regrets. The memories are precious, even as some of them are filled with cloudy remembrances, they are part of our love growing together.

We were married as our parents opined “very young” ( my wife was 19 and I was 23). We didn’t go in blindly to the marriage, but I think we were naive about what the journey ahead would be. But headfirst we jumped into life with the promise of a bright future.

Thirty-five years later we have relocated multiple times across the US ( mainly because of job related reasons), we have 4 great children that have supplied ( and continue to supply) a house full of love and family dramas. But over all we have been blessed. Not by wealth, not by possessions, not by health or constant good fortune, but by each other. It has not been perfect.

I want to quote a wise spiritual leader, pastor, author I have had the honor to know, Steve Lucas, who also recently posted some sentiments about his marriage on his site (Yesterday Lucas): These really captured my heart as things that I feel are so true. “Marriage is not about perfection. It’s about two people, stumbling through life together, growing in their relationship with each other and with God. Forgiveness, patience, a bad memory, and extra love are all ingredients that are required to make it in marriage.”

And I agree with that 100%. As he explains also that there are a handful of days that could be good to have called a “do over”. I can think of several in recent memory ( some further back are a bit cloudy, but the remnants are still there ). But as he says, do-over’s would likely be at the expense of the wisdom gained through mistakes. Again I couldn’t agree more. “ Thankfully, in every failure there has been forgiveness; in every trial, we shared them together.”

“I don’t deserve my wife. But then again, neither do I deserve the Grace of God. But I’ll happily accept both.”

I am blessed with the happiness of what is truly the good fortune in my life, to know true love.

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Acceptance, choices, Faith, Fmaily, Forgiveness, God's love, Grace, Imperfection, Marriage, Memories, moments, Postive Thinking, relationships, True Love, Wedding Anniversaries

07 Jun 2014

If It Makes You Happy

“If it makes you happy, then why are you so sad?” Great words from a great song that my family loved. It is just an easy question that can sometimes have the most difficult answer.

But really what is it that makes you happy? Is it goodness, something that you can cherish and embrace and love because you are you?

Then why the hell are you so sad (as the song goes)? Life is so very short and then it is over and we can look forward to the eternity ahead. But in the mean time we all need to get more inspired. There is so little time, and while we are here on Earth we have to make our tracks.

We have to embrace those things that are positive, make the best of them and be sure we are “right” with our world first. Before we are right with the rest of the world and all it offers, before we try to search for the meaning of life for others, we need to understand our meaning.

It is “purpose”- and those that defer purpose, or decline it all together are missing so much. I mean do they look at it like “first you live, then you die and make the most of everything in-between”? Or do you look at it as the more you embrace the purpose of life, the more happy you will be?

“If it makes you happy” doesn’t mean to do whatever you want and damn the circumstances. It means what really makes you happy when you understand the purpose of what you are doing here. Understand your part in the process of life, and it is a grand scheme… but a good one.

So advice to my kids: make sure you enjoy it, but be sure you understand your purpose. And look for it- when it arrives be sure to embrace it- and you will be happy.

Here ya go kids. What we used to sing in the car as loud as we could. If it Makes You Happy!

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Acceptance, Change, choices, Finding Your Way Back, Happiness, Happy, Joy, life is precious, Looking for Happiness, moments, Postive Thinking, Sadness, Sheryl Crow

30 May 2014

Losing My Reflection

It is easy. Easy to get lost in the everyday demands that make up life. Missing time to reflect on who you really are.

How do you program that into your calendar? Making sure that you take the time to actually know who “you are” instead of who other people expect you to be. It can be struggle, even more so if you are losing your reflection. Your own time. By the time you find out you are lost in the daily routine it can seem too late to make a change.

But change you must. Getting back the image that you know you are. The image in the mirror of the person who brought you to this place in time. Don’t look at the wrinkles, or the wear and tear around the eyes. Look deeper and see what is inside of you that defines the meaning of your life. It’s really not about you, it is about much more than just you. But you have to start by examining that part of you that is fading.

Get the mirror out and really look past your skin, look past the makeup or the hair cut. Take toll of what is going to help make it long-term. The small stuff isn’t going to really make a difference tomorrow. Like they say, don’t sweat the small stuff. Let go. Let God have a shot. Let your spirit be more free to take part in your soul.

In the end I know I get lost in my own schedule. I get accustomed to the routine that has provided me comfort (nothing wrong with comfort). But that comfort has allowed me to be complacent and somewhat lazy. And then just to justify it I reason out that its okay. But it’s really just me losing my reflection of life.

Kids, It is just that easy. No matter what age you are, not matter what you think you are doing now- look closely in the mirror. Are you there?

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Acceptance, Change, choices, Doubt, Faith, life is precious, mental-health, Postive Thinking, Reality Check, reflection, Self-Awareness, taking time, tracks in the dust, Who Are You

29 May 2014

Making Something Out of Nothing

Often I have heard that expression “making something out of nothing” What does that mean to you?

I mean is the nothing good or the nothing bad? Something made from nothing good could be something bad. Something bad that ends up being good is something well earned and fortune.

I think it is about who or what makes the difference in your life… What elements in your life will make things change? What paths you are going down that you haven’t gone down before?

Would something from nothing be those things that end up taking your view of life in a different way than you expected? Sending you off in a way that you would not ever have imagined. I have had people in my life over my years that helped to make something from the nothingness of my life. Those people took hold of my spiritual center and revitalized it. Made me see things I had never seen before, that meant nothing in my life.

So who is it that will show you that there is “something” to be made from the nothing that may be in front of you? Are you willing to muster up the trust and the faith it will take to let that happen. In God perhaps. Or will you spend your life’s days always wondering about that “nothingness” that lingers somewhere out ahead?

Advice to my kids? Understand that time is precious, and it cherishing that passage of time that will make something of it. Something is coming… just what is it for you? Its right around the corner.

Are you consumed with the unknown tomorrow, or looking for the something that is right here and now? Make something of it. Your expectations have to begin with yourself. Be receptive to the idea that you CAN make something out of nothing.