choices | Tracks In The Dust

Archive for the tag “choices”

05 Oct 2012

No One Gets Out of Here Alive

We all know it. We don’t often talk about it except when someone passes on in our lives or we know someone who has lost someone. That time is unpredictable, for some more than others. For a lot of us we all hope we can live to a ripe old age, be aware of life and all it has to offer right to the end of it all.

So we know it. It will be a day some day in our lives. We need to live till we die. And along the way we have our mission to share what brings us purpose. Many people seem lost and angry these days, so many unsure of the meaning of it, while yet others ignore their lives meaning altogether, and live with no purpose at all.

In the last couple of weeks I have known two wonderfully God-centered people who have experienced a loss in their lives. One a father and another a husband. They are mourning like those of us left here on Earth are supposed to do. They are also comfortable with the fact that there is a place afterward that their loved ones will be. Happy in the place that believers will be for eternity after this life. This grace continues to be profound in my life. Something I cannot ignore. That is something that is in the heart of a Christian.

So the reality of it is – no one gets out of here alive. ( Thanks Jim Morrison) No one lives forever in this life on Earth. While we are here, we touch other lives and make a difference in a million ways through our timeline (it’s not just a Facebook thing).

We can choose to be part of that movement in our life.

The lost choices lead to hopelessness, confusion, being unsure about the future or the present or eternity. Sadly there are so many out there that will spend that life until the end without purpose. How empty that must be. The found choices can be to make life what it is- a journey, an adventure, the opportunity to give back to those around us the grace that God has give us. Until the next eternal life. And since each moment could be our last, we need to cherish them and make them count.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Acceptance, cherish, choices, Grace, life is precious, life on earth, Postive Thinking, Self-Awareness, Sprituality, Who Are You

10 Sep 2012

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Reliving the Past

Our pasts are so precious. After all every moment we have lived up to this second is what makes us who we are right now. We have our memories to cherish, we have our experiences to formulate our opinions and shape are personalities. There are plenty of minutes in our lives where not a thing has happened except that we have taken another breath, which we can certainly be thankful for.

We should be proud of who we are- if we can count our accomplishments in a way that has helped others, or we have helped to make shape so many people around us by simple things we may have said or done. In other cases we may have profoundly changed so many lives of those who have since moved on to other circles of friends. But we left our mark on them, we may have ever so slightly changed their course, or perhaps made great changes. But there we were in that past.

But there is one thing that seems to be very true about our pasts, yet so many try to defy it. We cannot relive our past. We can recall it, we may even be able to reenact it in some way. But the ever-changing world does not allow us to go back and relive it just the way it was. Even though some of those moments were profound for you. The birth of your children, the first meeting of a love of your life, the simple victories and celebrations of life, sharing thoughts and philosophies with friends that ultimately indelibly put a new spin on your existence. Or perhaps just that simple clear day where the sky is blue, the sun is shining and you can take a deep breath… Or that day that you made a regrettable mistake that you would rather have not, and would do anything to change it now.

But you cannot go back, just like you cannot predict the future an( see my previous blog). You have to appreciate it, but cannot wallow in it. There is really only the here and now. You have to appreciate the here and now. The moment. And every one after it for as long as you are allowed. A while back I had posted “No Day But Today”. There is only that- only this moment until the next.

So don’t spend your time wishing the past back, it cannot be done. You should not forget it. You should not dismiss it. You cannot relive it.

So now what? What can you do?…. Be the person you have become… through this journey, take the next steps in whatever adventure life allows you ( and then more) and make the day count for something positive, in your life it could be the most significant day ever- but then in some ways they all are.

RELATED POSTS

Predicting the Future

No Day But Today

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged being remembered, choices, Faith, life is precious, Memories, moments, Postive Thinking, Sprituality, the future, the past, Who Are You

14 Aug 2012

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Finding a Purpose and the Lack of Self-Esteem

There seems to be a great lack of self-esteem these days. Sitting around with some good wine and great friends, we all agreed that these days seem like more people are challenged with a lack of purpose. Maybe spurred on by a lack of self-esteem. I read a statistic (for what it is worth on the Internet) that an estimated that 50% of the working population in the US are in the wrong jobs. But because of the lack of confidence and self-esteem that stay where they are.

In a previous post I had talked about becoming a victim and the levels of accountability. It is easy to find ways to blame others for our plight, instead of lack of confidence in ourselves. It can lead to spending a lot of time and energy building the reasons for blaming others. It can mean time wasted that could be used instead to finding time to build the confidence in the fact that we are THE unique person in the plan. After all it begins with self-esteem and celebrating our unique-ness (is that a word?).

Perhaps some of our esteem is missing because we are missing the spiritual center of our lives? Could it be that somewhere along the way we have under valued our special place in the universe, the individuality that makes us fit in the day-to-day interaction with our friends, co-workers, family, lovers?

Is being unique a bad thing? Today it seems like many want to believe it is – and when someone calls out their individuality they are persecuted for being prejudiced or “politically incorrect”. In the end we are all part of the human race, but we need to be ourselves (as they say, “everyone else is taken”).

We need a purpose, and God can be that purpose. With no purpose… on purpose, we end up looking for it in all the wrong places, and then end up alone wondering why it the things seem so unreachable. So distant. Lost for the vision of the future in our lives and after that.

So in my efforts. I also have to remember that I need to be constantly teaching my children those same things, and live it as I speak it. Or they will just go on with the risk of choosing the same cycle. Being part of the pattern of lack of esteem.

From pjgracecommunity: I need to discover my purpose!

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Acceptance, choices, Definitions, Grace, Opinion, Philosophy, Postive Thinking, Self-Awareness, Self-esteem, tracks in the dust

12 Aug 2012

Maybe I’m Amazed

Maybe I’m Amazed.

Maybe I’m amazed by the way we can make “something” out of “nothing”. And sometimes we like it and sometimes we hate it.

Maybe I’m amazed how there are always two stories to everything, and then there is the real story. Looking through our own eyes, we see them through our own lens and it has so many colors.

Maybe I’m amazed that after 30+ years of marriage I am still in love with the same person. Love is not negotiable, it has ups and downs but it can be always and forever.

Maybe I’m amazed that more people don’t know about how find the beginning of something new, and stay stuck in one direction wondering when things will change.

Maybe I’m amazed that we only have a certain amount of time here on Earth, but we treat it so poorly- letting days go by without appreciating our time and using it to do what God has expected us to do. The rewards are endless.

Maybe I’m amazed that there are so many beautiful, wonderful people in this world, yet so many people are attracted to the negative things around them.

We all have a path. For us so fortunate to be able to make choices, we can. Yes we have the ability to change. We can choose at any moment to make things better.

So with so many in the world that cannot choose, we need to take that power and choose for the better. Help show others the way.

Posted in Life's Sound Track (Music) and tagged Acceptance, Amazed, cherish, choices, life is precious, Marriage, Memories, Postive Thinking, something out of nothing, ups and downs

11 Aug 2012

The Color of Music

Music surrounds us every day, and there are some songs that colour our day in certain hues of blue, while other days they can be uplifting orange.

When I was a kid there was a revolution of music that covered the gambit of emotions in such a way that there was no way you could avoid it. When you turned on the radio, when you played your music on the stereo or drove your car there were songs that painted the moment.

I remember “Wear Your Love Like Heaven” by Donovan. Colors of the mind. There were all sorts of beautiful images that made up music during that renaissance of rock. There still are if you are listening for it. Sure music is to dance to, its to make love to, dream to, relax to and generally absorb yourself in it. But truly listening to it and letting it start that “movie” in your mind is just as unique. “Here Comes The Sun” “Good Vibrations” Back then they drew pictures as the rang their way out of the speakers to the ears.

Today to, so many great musicians are creating pictures and moods in the songs they create. Everyone has their favorites. I am not going to rattle them off because there is so much passion in the choice. Often some artists just capture the motions of your life. I have always been a fan of a band called Copeland, Aaron Marsh makes modern art with his music. Although the band has disbanded. I can tell you after decades of music listening, they hit me. I am sure that there are artists that are like that for you. What are they?

One of the coolest thing is that music breaks down so many boundaries. No matter where you live in the world, there are rhythms, melodies, songs of praise, songs of war, songs of love and loneliness, No harm diving into it. They can lift you up, bring you down, connect you to the past or bring you toward the future.

Recently this video was taken at Olympic Stadium in London. Some may say that Sir Paul should have done this song in the opening ceremony. but honestly it wasn’t his song to sing (even thow he was in the group). What is so very cool is that people of all countries (many Brits I am sure) are involved. One World singing such a simple command. Beautiful.