Tracks In The Dust

A Father's Advice About Learning the Mission of Life

Archive for the tag “Emotion”

22 Aug 2013

How Many Friends?

Flickr friends (Photo credit: Meer)

In the days of social media the term “friends” has taken on a whole different meaning. Years ago before the word became a measurement of success by accumulating the highest number possible, friends were more likely the genuine type.

Yes, there were those fleeting friends that came and went, some you may not be able to recall their last name or exactly where they were inserted in your life. But there were those friends that mean something even now. It doesn’t mean that you text them every day, or write emails to them even monthly, but they are “there” and they represent a place in your history that is significant.

Those friends may count for a large portion of who you are, or they had made an impression that was mutual as you traveled through the timeline (another word that has changed its meaning these days). They may be the closest confidant or someone who you shared experiences with that were beyond the every day trip to the shopping mall.

Friends can count (instead of counting friends) – and can make the difference. It is still amazing that in those cases you can meet up with them after a long absence, and start right where you left off. You can enjoy the news of what has happened in their lives as more that just a casual observer. You can embrace their family or friendships they have made along they way and appreciate that history.

There are those friends that are there for you, at a moments notice. No matter how silly it may seem in the afterthought, they were there for you in the moment, It provides one of the real purposes in your life as you live it.

There is this song that I remember from a long time ago (1975) from The Who. It reminds me that true friendships are precious and should be cherished. They take you as you are…

The Friends You Can Count On (thesimpledollar.com)

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life, Life's Sound Track (Music) and tagged Acceptance, Emotion, Faith, Friends, Friendship, Genuine Friends, life is precious, Music, Real Friends, Social media, The Who

23 Jul 2013

2 Comments

You Are The New Day

You Are the New Day.

You can make the difference every day.

One of my favorite songs (traditional) by a group I listened to often long ago.

Go out and make a difference and be involved in someone’s life. Don’t close yourself off to living. Life is short.

Posted in Life's Sound Track (Music) and tagged choices, Emotion, favorite songs, Happiness, Memories, Music, new day, Postive Thinking, Rock music, Self-Awareness

26 Jun 2013

2 Comments

Appreciating Acceptance

Since as early as pre-school it would seem that there is a desire for acceptance. A desire or perhaps a need to be part of the “group” that has some common goal, even if that is just to be the first on the playground or have the same favorite color or game.

Even more later in life I suppose, as we move into our adolescent years, there is a strong desire (maybe part of the hormones) to be accepted. Be part of a team or a clique, be accepted by the person(s) we romantically desire. Even for those anti-society “rebels without a cause” there is a reason to be accepted in a group.

There a likely hundreds upon thousands of academic books about this topic. I am sure that they all wrap things up into some human characteristic that is inherent in our DNA or something. Wonderful that so many pages can be written to draw up a conclusion about the whole thing of acceptance.

For us in the adult world – most of us are always in need of things like friendships, acceptance in our work spaces with our peers and the boss, relating to others on all sorts of levels on topics from crafts to politics.

There is one place that isn’t often part of that equation as it should be in my view: church. A place where all people are seeking acceptance, and looking for others that see that opportunity to be accepted as well. Just talking about the gathering of people- not the building, but the church as a collective of people who believe that the mission is to continue to extend the hope, spirit and faith. Surrounding yourself with people who have the same perspective can become refueling for the soul.

I think that the first step to positively appreciate your acceptance, is to recognize and accept the spiritual guidance that is inside of you, and accepting yourself first.

I tell my kids to focus on knowing what you need and why you think you need it. Learn to be yourself if you want to be accepted by others. If you don’t know who “you” are – how are you going to gain acceptance from others? how can you even to accept others?

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Acceptance, Affirmation, Be Yourself, Doubt, Emotion, Postive Thinking, Reality Check, Religion and Spirituality, Self-Awareness, Spiritual Growth, Who Am I?

24 Jun 2013

“Mad” or “Sad”?

I was in a grocery store over the weekend and I heard a lady exclaim to her husband how “really mad” she was about the fact that a cracker company had discontinued her preferred sized box.

I had to laugh a bit because I couldn’t think of a situation such as that where it would make me be “really” mad. I always thought that “mad” was reserved for horrific things that happened to people or circumstances that became unable to control or ultimately did not turn out the way we expected. Even then there is a fine line I think between mad and sad (or disappointed I suppose).

It seems like more and more people are “mad” at things that really stretch the idea of or being angry. There is room for anger in our lives; applied to those things that may some how stimulate us to a better life, to be more conscientious or be stronger for someone or some cause.

It seems the “madness” I see stems from something else. Perhaps the frustration of the moment or the feeling of helplessness. More than ever before, there seem to be a lot of people who are more angry over things that they cannot change. That is likely because in this “information age” of constant incoming data we are increasingly more exposed to things we can get mad at.

Maybe that is the idea of what someone means when they refer to the past as “simpler times”? Maybe because of ignorance (which I have heard is bliss) or maybe though intentional avoidance, some people just didn’t have to deal with being angry in those simpler times. As time has changed, and war, poverty, hate, disease and the like have come 24/7 into our lives, maybe we have become an angrier society?

Whatever the path, seems like something to be sad about. Perhaps mad; but likely sad…because the ability to turn off that 24/7 input has passed many people by. Unless we ourselves make a choice.

Be mad if you need to, but remember to be sad when you can. Either way you have to find a place where you can move on…. make a difference, change what’s happening, or focus on something else that you can effect. Getting “stuck” in mad is maddening enough.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Acceptance, Anger, Compassion, Emotion, Grace, Happiness, Hope, Joy, Kindness, mental-health, Sadness, Self-Awareness

09 May 2013

Behind Every Door

Behind every door is a story. And every one of them is personal.

Recently in Cleveland Ohio USA, three women emerged from the horror of being secretly locked up and tortured and raped for ten years, while the rest of the world moved by the house and the doors and windows where so much pain and anger was hidden. It is one that was discovered, but you can’t help thinking there are so many equally terrifying stories. People living in the private walls of their lives in a way that most may not understand, while yet others may recognize as their own…

So we pass by doors of people’s lives every day, some real, some just figuratively. We may often ignore the idea of what is behind those doors.There stories for every door, so many stories. Stories of loneliness, pain, anger, sadness, hopelessness, guilt and so many more of the agonies that we humans have been dealt. We try to reflect ourselves on those doors. In our heads and lives we see those doors as similar or identical to ours, of we find ourselves threatened by the idea that there are things much worse.

Behind those doors there is certainly good and bad, because everyone has their own demons and challenges. I know someone who is living the pain and challenges of a brain tumor. His family is dealing with all that emotion, all that goes with the disease and the stark mortality that is a constant part of their lives. It is the struggle behind a door that many will pass every day. Most will never know.

Seems like in this world of high-speed connections, Internet friendships and text messaging – the opportunity to have those relationships we need- those connections behind those doors have been damaged. It is lost behind the locks of the doors that divide us. That contain so many stories that deserve compassion, deserve to be discovered. Need to understand there is hope.