Faith | Tracks In The Dust

Archive for the tag “Faith”

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

09 Jul 2013

The “Scale of Accountability” Again

Nearly every day something will trigger the Scale of Accountability. It keeps coming back to mind to me. I posted this last year, but it is something that has been great to keep a perspective on things on so many levels.

Often I see people around me angered and frustrated with the situations they are in- I hear them explaining things away as though they are “circumstantial” or must be blamed on other things around them. I wonder what their life is like day-to-day. Are they feeling like a victim; acting like a victim?

There are so many of those people who seem to appear in so many places in life. They seem to be lost because they don’t have a “center” in their lives, but they aren’t looking for one either. Often they surround themselves with more people who feel the way they do, which just makes it all the easier to stay in the place they are. They are unsure why they are stuck in a place they don’t want to be, but that is “the way it is” they’ll say…

So I ask my kids to be accountable to themselves and also to the life they choose and to God. Be aware, take action when they need to make a difference in what is happening. Things will change. Life will take on a new meaning.

The Scale of Accountability: What direction do you take?

Are You Accountable?

Make It Happen – DO IT
Find Solutions – SOLVE IT
Own Responsibility – OWN IT
Acknowledge Situation – SEE IT

Are You A Victim?

Wait and Hope It Gets Better
Excuses-Reasons “I can’t”
Blaming Others
Unaware-Unconscious-Ignore

Responsibility (thendley.wordpress.com)

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Accountability, Blame, choices, Doubt, Faith, Finding Fault, mental-health, Philosophy, Rationalization (making excuses), Reality Check, Self-Awareness, Taking Responsibility

27 Jun 2013

2 Comments

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

21 Jun 2013

Searching for An Answer

Keep searching.

It seems like everyone gives up or says “I am done” at some point in their life… but it is important that you take that in stride. The old song that goes: “Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again” doesn’t always feel like a welcome one.

But whether it is a search for a mate, a new job, a solution to a problem or profoundly the meaning of life, there has to be a point to it. Never giving up is so cliché. Still I think that is the basis of being human, having hope – even if despair is all around you.

But you have to look for it. I have posted before about people in my life that I have noticed who will wait for things to come to them. Sure it happens (some call it luck- others call it fate). God is good and He will provide, but you have to be looking for it. You cannot expect the things you need to search for to land in-front of you.

Ironically those few times that they do, if you weren’t looking they may just pass you by. You may not even recognize the opportunity (like my mom used to say) “even if it bit you in the nose.” Maybe that is because you weren’t looking, which gets right back to searching doesn’t it?

So I keep faith in the hope that the things we are willing to search for will come to us if we are open and receptive to them. (Like most everyone else, I have been at the dark-end of things in my life). If we understand that in order to search for those things, we have to remove the excuses and reasons not to. We have to get out of the cycle of denial or despair (or whatever you want to call it), and make something of the life we have.

‘Cuz life is short, and you may know that adage: The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time. That is, not a philosophy to support the idea to party till you drop, but to recognize what you need to do in life; make the best of it- understand that eternity can be had in the next life- and go searching. Don’t stop. Open your eyes…

A great song by a band I have enjoyed for decades.

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life, Life's Sound Track (Music) and tagged Advice, Faith, Hope, Inspirational, Meaning of life, moments, Procrastination, Reality Check, Searching for meaning, Secret of Life, Self-Awareness, spirituality, Sprituality

29 May 2013

Looking for the Big Finish

You know those movies where there is the big “reveal” – the ultimate secret that no one in the movie knew?

Lately I have been having those kind of dreams. Like some long story with a lot of mystery and conflict. Then it comes time for the answer and bam! … I wake up.

Answers like that seem to become elusive. I am sure some dream analysis person could tell me all about why I dream that way, or why I wake up before someone reveals the “big finish” to the dream.

But then for many of us life can also seem that way. Always waiting in anticipation for the revealing secret that is going to make everything fit together so well. That “ah-ha” moment. It is going to provide that release for the tension and un-sureness that life brings and let us ride off into the sunset with our heads held high.

From my perspective I guess, seems like that will be an elusive thing for all our lives if we let our subconscious keep gnawing away at our fears, chipping away at our confidence and providing fuel for the worry of not knowing where the plot will end things.

However, there seem to be chapters in life where things will come to a place where there are moments of clarity. Loss of loved ones, gaining new friends or lovers, celebrating the personal and emotional milestones …. things like that will jar things loose for a bit. They can make the story of living so clear as something that has purpose or doesn’t have… but as the page turns the new plot begins and its time to continue life’s story.

To me there is only one way to settle this. It is to trust in your spiritual being. To give to Him. To make adjustments that allow you to have faith in something bigger than you. It can put a lot in perspective and allow for a different look at how the “final” end to the story will look. It can be the ultimate “ah-ha” moment. The big finish will be the last day of your life, when all is certain ( as that day is certain to come) – you will be able to enjoy the ultimate secret.

That will be when the life/movie credits roll and the screen will show thanks to all who contributed, “The End” – or will it be the beginning? It’s all on how you live it now I guess.