choices | Tracks In The Dust

Archive for the tag “choices”

16 May 2014

Reconnecting with Old Friends

There is something great about reconnecting with old friends. It helps to remind you of where you were. Even though you can’t go back in time and relive those days, it is nice to ground yourself once in a while. Good for the soul.

Wishing you can go back will be pretty hollow, but looking at that notch in time is a good way to evaluate your place in time- in the “now”.

There is certainly some remembrances of things you desire to forget. Those awkward times when life deals the blows that land bruises, loss of loved ones and painful experiences.

There are also things you wish you could put in a highlight reel, those things you were proud of – the accomplishments of goals and desires you have had over the years.

Then there are those very special remembrances with those genuine friends and family that if you could “bottle” the feelings of comfort and joy, you would open that bottle frequently and drink that in.

But change is going to happen. And some of your closest friends now may be just part of the future memories you may embrace.

Have you had those times when you’ d hope it would never end, but looking back later, it may have been the best thing? Disconnecting from people who ultimately create a negative influence can be hard to do. We may not even recognize that we are deep in the influence of friends who mean the best, but end up keeping things from happening in our lives.

So it is good to reconnect with old friends isn’t it?

Great for remembering who you were, the fabric of what you are now, and where things came to get you to today…. because still in the end there is “no day but today”.

Friends ( by Elton John and Bernie Taupin)

I hope the day will be a lighter highway
For friends are found on every road
Can you ever think of any better way
For the lost and weary travelers to go

Making friends for the world to see
Let the people know you got what you need
With a friend at hand you will see the light
If your friends are there then everything’s all right

It seems to me a crime that we should age
These fragile times should never slip us by
A time you never can or shall erase
As friends together watch their childhood fly

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life, Life's Sound Track (Music) and tagged Change, Changes, cherish, choices, Friends, life is precious, Memories, Reality Check, reconnecting, Remembering the past, Self-Awareness, Slow Down, Today, tracks in the dust, Who Are You, Yesterday

15 May 2014

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Driving Under The Influence of Stupidity

Okay I am not really complaining, but maybe sort of. When I was a kid in order to get my drivers license it was required that I take a “defensive driving” course. It taught me how to be sure to anticipate the people and things that could come up as possible threats or obstacles as you drive.

I can’t help noticing that these days people seem to be driving “offensively” more than on the defense. I see people making last minute decisions to cut into lanes, people who make turns from lanes that are supposed to be for thru traffic. They seem to be doing it intentionally. Maybe they are unaware ( that would actually be scarier).

Any way you look at it, the idea that people can just make those decisions without care for those around them makes me wonder how many times a day they are being avoided. Maybe its the generation that grew up on video games. All the way back to “rad racer” and ever since, it seems like simulated road maneuvers and even road rage are centered around those kind of games. I’ve played them myself. They are fun, but not reality.

My dad taught me that if you miss an exit on the highway or a turn on the street, you find the next exit or turn and make a correction. Just the other day I saw someone move from a lane 4 lanes away to get to their exit at the very last minute. I was glad I was far enough behind to miss any possible swerving as we were going 70 mph at the time. Did that person have any idea that they could have caused an accident, or even the loss of human life? Not entirely sure.

Okay- so easy to complain I guess. Just want to be sure that my kids learn the “defense” because the offense seems to be the majority these days. It probably has always been that way, but it seems more obvious to me than I can recall in my decades of driving.

Do you see it that way where you live?

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Advice, Bad Driving, Car Safety, choices, Defensive Driving, Observations, Road Rage, Slow Down, tracks in the dust

09 May 2014

Making History Disappear

When I was younger I was fortunate to have been taught the value of history. Its perspectives, its meaning, the reasons that things happened in the past and the way things got to where they are now. It is all part of the value of understanding history.

It’s great in our modern times that we have so many ways to learn about history. History channels on TV, history websites, documentary movies and books written about some of the most influential people and times in Earth’s past.

But also it seems today that we are more eager than ever to erase parts of history. By distorting it in those same places that supply it, and even more so by erasing its reference in the culture we live in. It is a delicate balance for sure. Our racial and political prejudices make for what seems valid reasons to just eradicate any current reference to those things deemed unacceptable now. As they may have seemed right in the past, today they may seem very biased, cruel or insensitive to how things are in the “now.”

But we are in the times of the “information age” where information is readily available at the push of a button. We have to be careful to understand that just because we have an abundance of information – doesn’t mean we have an abundance of “knowledge”. Erasing the past entirely for the sake of the future would be most difficult, but erasing the memories of what those things are in the past can be very easy. In the course of that effort, the generations ahead will be unaware of what brought them to that point.

So my advice to my kids?

Understand history and respect it. My father and my wife’s father both fought in World War 2. They are remembered by their children, but as my kids grow up and they have children they will have a different perspective. Even the veterans of the Vietnam era will only be a fact in the history data that will exist on the Internet or in books or movies. It may only seem like another fiction book or story to some of them

When history gets erased, it will open up the opportunity for it to be repeated. With no lessons learned, generations ahead will not understand the perspectives on which we got to where we are… they will go in and blindly misunderstand the reasons for things.

Erasing history and the references to things around is can be labeled as “progress” or “the correct thing to do” – and that is always going to happen. But it has accelerated because we live in the age where an abundance of information and opinion is shared with everyone. So everyone’s opinion is supposed to count, but with regard to history- the basis for formulating those opinions are lost in history (or the lack of its understanding).

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged choices, Future, History, Information Age, Looking Back, Memories, Past, Reality Check, Repeating History, tracks in the dust, Who Are You

07 May 2014

Someone is Watching

I opened my email the other day and some Internet company was offering close out electronics: One of them was a “spy watch” on sale for under $60. I mean it records video and audio ( and tells time) and of course it can be used with no one else knowing. Then easily download your recording to your computer.

Aside from sounding like James Bond espionage gadgets- it made me shudder.

It also made me think about how easy it is today for ANY ONE to capture ANY THING on video or audio.

It’s in today’s headlines – private recordings that have lambasted a very sad man due to his prejudice. But it’s in our every day lives also. We cannot be candid any more. Our comments in a desperate situation, our misaligned humor at a time when we are vulnerable. the things we can say that can be pulled from context and made to be something 180 degrees the opposite. It is and will forever be the world we live in going forward.

Like George Orwell’s 1984, big brother may be watching, but so is everyone else.

These days nearly everyone has a video and sound recorder in their pocket. Always be aware that someone could have sound or pics of you at your worse. Now there is no room for error. And once it is captured, it can be posted on the Internet and become a permanent record of the moment, good or bad or otherwise. Leveling permanent damage intentional or not-those are images that will be hard to forget (not like those photos in the shoe box). They can come up again someday randomly.

Candid unguarded commentary? Its a new generation in so many ways. You have to think and ask yourself “just what are you saying?”

Can you be your own social editor for all you say and do to be sure it will be okay?

Well, not me – I am not perfect. I am going to make stupid remarks, going to do something that may look silly, offhanded or careless. Not intentional. perhaps in a fit of anger or frustration. But today there is someone watching- and they may see it as unacceptable. “He who is without sin cast the first stone.” Stones are still flying. And I guess we are all helping in some way.

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Acceptance, choices, Doubt, George Orwell, life is precious, Losing Your Identity, Postive Thinking, Privacy, Self-Awareness, Someone is watching, Truth

02 May 2014

Lies That Can Contain You

Lies are powerful things aren’t they? They can convince you to do things you may otherwise never have done. They can lead you in the wrong direction and contain you in fear.

I have learned over time that there are people in your life that may lie to you, but may also love you too.

They may think they are doing it for “good reasons”, perhaps to protect you.

But overall those most powerful lies in your life likely come with motivation. It may be selfish motivation by someone wishing to avoid personally bad situations, or it could be they wish to manipulate you or others to do things they want you to do for the wrong reasons.

Perhaps you have reasons to WANT to believe the lies. It may make it easier. Send fault or blame somewhere else. Provide an excuse to not fight for the right thing or do the right thing. Not to face the truth of the matter.

For example: A person can choose to believe that since they are imperfect they may think they are unworthy of forgiveness. It can seem easier to dig a deeper hole and put ourselves in a “box” with the perception of “no way out”. Breaking free from the lies we embrace can be life changing, yet it may never happen. As the good book says ” the truth shall set you free”.

So advice for my kids... what can you do? Start by being true to yourself. Don’t lie to yourself. Be sure you test the things you hear and ask questions that help to measure their motivation. Take care to understand things more, and not necessarily accept things at face value.

Today it seems more than ever that people desire to listen to others or read something on the Internet, and then accept things just because it sounds like something to want to believe. It doesn’t mean it is worthy of acceptance. There can be convincing arguments, there can be things that can sound true. But understand the consequences. Know the motivations.

Don’t let lies contain you in fear or uncertainty. Understand your well-being is centered in faith in your heart and in Him.