choices | Tracks In The Dust

Archive for the tag “choices”

27 Jun 2013

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

20 Jun 2013

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Summer Solstice

It’s that time of year where summer is “official” on the calendar.

Here in the US it is that time again to think seriously about summer. For many of us that happened back at the end of May when America celebrates Memorial Day. But for the science of it all, summer begins now.

It sill churns up all the great memories of what summer meant when I was a kid: hot summer days at the beach, baseball season starts to really take shape, get ready for Independence Day celebrations and barb-e-ques ahead, hop on the bike and ride to places to enjoy the out-of-doors (does anyone really call it that anymore?). There was kind of a feeling of anticipation of what the adventure of summer would bring.

Anticipation for the “lazy days“: Like my mom and dad planning a family vacation. Even the summer songs on the radio would be upbeat, softball leagues would be gathering at the neighborhood park, the dog-days of August were lurking in the post July heat ahead-. The world seemed brighter– may be because the days were longer and the nights seemed more available to extend the day’s activities.

As I have gotten older, some of that still remains. I think I worked hard to make sure my kids could feel those same remembrances, but now they are older now and creating their own. I asked my teenage daughter (who is days away from NOT being called a “teenager”) – where would you like to live as you continue your journey into adulthood? Her answer: “somewhere where there are seasons”. Her younger years were in the mid-west US, but these past many years we have lived in Texas where those season changes are so much harder to recognize.

Summer solstice is here. To everything there is a season. Time to capture this one and enjoy it.

Photo credit: artsboston.org

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Change, choices, great memories, Independence Day, life is precious, moments, neighborhood park, Remembering Summer, Seasons, Sostice, Summer, Summer solstice, Summertime

18 Jun 2013

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Be Thankful

So there are so many ways to say “thank you”. For some it may be a sincere hug. Are you a hugging person? Maybe not as personal for some, but perhaps a genuine handshake or some other physical way.

There are people who show their appreciation with special words of thanks, pointing out very directly how they feel. They may go out of their way to reach out and be sure someone knows what it means. There are others who send cards or notes, communication to make sure to be specific about what they felt and why they want to say thanks.

But there are some people I have met that seem to have lost the art of saying thank you. They may nod or say “thank you” and smile, but they believe that are just trying to be polite. They really expect things to come to them, to be provided to them because they deserve it. Perhaps they think “after all” they have struggled to get where they are, they may have even worked hard to be who they are. But really, it may not be sincere, it may be lost in the point of view.

My kids are adults now. And I hope that I have taught my kids what it means to be thankful. What it means when someone else does something for them. What it means to do things for others as well. Is it an art? Is there a science to it? Not sure that there is, it is just something that has to be recognized. It is a way of life that allows you to recall and remember what others lives are like around you. It’s not a sign of weakness, it is not a sign of submission. It is the proof that you are in the place you need to be in humankind.

You can be the ingredient of the essence that is grace in action.

So simple and so complex at the same time. Thank you.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Acceptance, choices, Compassion, culture, Grace, Kindness, Love, Opinion, Self-Awareness, Sprituality, Thankful

16 Jun 2013

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Turning Back to History

Often these days it seems many of us have been turning our backs on history.

The Ipswitch Milestone

Somehow it seems to me, that many of the people I know have turned their backs on history. I mean we all understand that there were many things that have happened before us. There are so many centuries before today, before this minute in modern history, and so many more thousands of years of ancient history, and before that the millions of years that make up time before it was recorded by man.

During even the most recent times, history is has influenced how things are shaped today. We don’t recognize it, but everything is linked to most everything before it. As my kids get older, I fear they may not recognize or appreciate what came before. The importance of history seems to have become lost for the most part. Other than a few movies about time travel, or an occasional documentaries or film stories that hover around history (much of it in some fictional account), I am not sure that they genuinely would know about much of history. That scares me some. History has meaning in our life, it is the essence of what we are and how we should look at the circumstances of today. .

Both of my children s grandfathers fought in World War 2. They are not alive anymore to share what they had to do, and why they had to do it (they both weren’t always interested in sharing the horror of it). It would have been great for my children to hear what the fabric of their lives were made of.

During our lifetime there are history-making events happening… how will we recognize the important milestones among them in the future? How would we see them linked to the past? – Or would anyone see the link at all?

So many significant things in history are at risk to be forgotten by most of us. Perhaps just remembered as some image on a webpage that will endlessly get lost in the mounds of URLs that make up the throw away websites on the world-wide web….

It is important that we pass on some of it if we can. Like those tribes of years ago, who spent time sharing and repeating the history of the people before them. We need to share it. To let our children know why things happened in history, and what it meant then and what it means now.

Related Posts.

From No Blog Intended.A great post about Blind Spots In History . It is inspirational that someone wants to pay attention and understand that there is so much more.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged being remembered, choices, grandfathers, History, Life, Remembering the past, Self-Awareness, significant things, Time travel, tracks in the dust, world war 2, World War II

14 Jun 2013

Organized Chaos

I have noticed that I spend a lot of time and effort trying to be organized. Maybe you do too?

Perhaps it’s because structure, for many people is a coping mechanism that helps us deal with the chaos and complexity of daily life in a way that we understand.

I feel it everyday, like so many around me, often avoiding chaos and uncertainty like the plague. Amazing as it may seem I think that history has proven over and over that all of our biggest opportunities for creating, for innovating, for “changing the paradigm” or whatever you want to call it… they have all come from that which scares us the most – chaos.

Not that I would welcome it of course, but in the scheme of things when I ponder how to avoid it… I can get darn creative. Sometimes it just becomes an inspiration. Sometimes it is a response to something unexpected. I look around the house some days and see how cluttered daily life has left things. Running from one errand to another, heading off to work or school and then getting caught up in that complex maze of things.

So there it is- those mazes that can make life complex, that chaos that can surround you and make you pause to think “I need more structure, need more control” and not let this get the best of me. Then… I creatively find ways to relax… maybe even get distracted… it will be okay. It will pass. Of course I can always make a list of everything I need to do. I can sort through and see what I can accomplish quickly (quickly- like the list I am making ha-ha).

Finally in the scheme of things I realize that even with all that chaos, that I had another day to cherish the life I have and make the best of it. God has blessed me. And that is on the TOP of my list. How about yours?

List Making (Photo credit: Bunches and Bits {Karina})