Happiness | Tracks In The Dust

Archive for the tag “Happiness”

30 Jan 2014

Every “Little Thing”

I have blogged about this before- but it constantly amazes me how intricate God has made our lives. The connections between us are endless.

Awwwww Yeah Flowers!

I know the movies and jokes about degree’s between people (hello Kevin Bacon), but it really is much more than that. A passing kindness for someone you don’t even know. A comment made that leaves a lasting impression on someone. The experience of sharing a moment of adversity or happiness can leave you with so much more of a sense of being.

As you reflect back on your life (so far) who has influenced you?

Who has made an impression that has changed your thinking, or made you change direction? Family or friends, perhaps a teacher, a manager at work or someone at church.

Can you imagine who in your life may have been influenced by you that you don’t know? Just simple things that may have happened? Every little thing can make a difference. You may not even know it. You don’t necessarily go out each day looking for the opportunity to change someone’s thinking ( but you could).

Perhaps that’s the place to start? Each day focused on just being aware that you may be doing something for someone else. Not even working at it, you will find it. That is the grace-bomb that has the potential to be an explosion of positive reactions, leading to greater things all around.

I am not as naive to believe that its going to be a revolution or a revelation. Just that we remain aware of the possibilities, pay attention to the opportunities just a little bit each day.

Every connection you make can change the direction of another persons life or perhaps yours. Isn’t that exciting that “just a little thing”- maybe something huge.

25 Dec 2013

2 Comments

Good Parent/Bad Parent

Easy to read all of the comments these days about how parents are treating their kids.

The Internet and media are full of news about parents who have done “bad” things to their kids. Some of them life threatening, some of them much more subtle but damaging. As a parent the obvious conclusion is to compare and be sure that you are not one of those parents who damaged their kids futures from some sort of neglect. Who put them through hell during their childhood so that they would never be good kids or worse yet good adults when they grew up?

Always seems like someone has the best idea: ” Spare the rod spoil the child.” “Teach the kids to be independent.” “Tell them how it really is.” “Make sure they understand that everything has consequences.” Or maybe for some they teach them ” there is always a way to get out of something.”

With so many influences outside a parents control- getting that fundamental core values have to be taught earlier and earlier. There is no shelter from the influences that are available today for kids in every age level.

So what are my wife and I ? Good parents? Bad ones?

I know I have my days where I guess I am pretty good. My kids have their own problems… did I dump them on them or did they collect their situations and predicaments all by them selves?

There are regrets as a parent, but overall you have to make the best of it. Some parents have much more success, while others seem to be constantly frustrated by their children- and cannot see why they had anything to do with it.

So I am guessing that is the fate of parents in general. They didn’t come with an owners manual when they arrived. Other than medical or convictions as reasons that they may not come to be; there are very few rules stopping someone from having one, even if they have very little experience or life lessons to reflect upon. Yup, no license to be a parent, no manuals, no permissions to be obtained. We parents have a lot of responsibility, but that is seldom accounted for as much until the day they are born… handed to you and you become a “parent” …. then the debate begins.

I love my kids (all 4 of them) and hope that they don’t blame us too much for the way they turned out. When they are doing good, we think that we did pretty good raising them; they think they did it all themselves. When they are doing poorly, we think it must have been some other reason than us; they think that it’s all their parents fault.

Either way – most of us do the best we can it seems.

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Acceptance, being a parent, being remembered, Children, Doubt, Family, Grace, Happiness, Memories, Opinion, Postive Thinking, Raising Children, Reality Check, relationships

05 Nov 2013

A Simple Grain Of Sand

I have learned, never take a day for granted. My dad used to say “the world is your oyster”. There are plenty of pearls I suppose out there. But it all starts with a grain of sand.

Microscopic view of sand on the beach

Our lives have to mean something while we are here on earth. The one grain of truth can be shared to make a beautiful thing or can ignite hate and fear. One simple thought can generate the grace of the spirit or it could be something that contributes to the darkness of wasted time and an energy that leads nowhere.

So we have a choice, to make the best of each day whether it starts with the smallest things or is full of events that make up your life. Staying at home behind your doors and drowning in the circumstance of life can waste away the gift of the time we have and wear away at the spirit of our being.

So whatever life we have left ( a minute, a day, a year, many years?) is ours to do with what we want. Choose grace. Choose to let each grain of sand become a pearl that will last much longer than you will be allowed. It is what matters most I think. Of course that depends on your perspective.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life, Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Acceptance, Faith, Grace, Happiness, Joy, Memories, Philosophy, Reality Check, Sprituality, The World is Your Oyster, tracks in the dust

31 Oct 2013

2 Comments

All That I’m Allowed

I get so sad sometimes. Just watching people wasting their lives away.

They consume so much of their time feeling that they are victims, or looking at the dark side of their life and being angry at everyone and every thing around them.

Sometimes I want to shake them and tell them to stop it! Quit sinking in the quicksand that is wrapping itself around them and slowing them down. It is tough to say how to help them. They don’t want to listen, they believe that “others” are creating their circumstances and that there is no way out. They are looking for more.

There is a look of hopelessness in their eyes. I cannot tell them the hopelessness I have experienced fighting a disease in my body that is not curable. It will always be there and my wife and I had to make a choice. Let it consume our lives or do something about it. We turned to our faith in God. We also turned to each other to help understand that His love is stronger than anything when it comes to life. We know that life is not eternal here on earth. We know that there is an ending to our timeline here, and that it is eternity that will matter most.

What we have learned: Have faith in each other, have faith in Him. Look at life as something to embrace no matter what the future holds. It has to be part of the equation. I feel bad for those with no hope, with no feeling of what “comes next”. They need to take another look at make something better out of the time we are allowed.

Standing Firm in Faith while in the Midst of Uncertainty (leslieannvarela.com)
Cancer survivor finds healing in faith (times-news.com)

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life, Life's Sound Track (Music) and tagged Elton John, Faith, Grace, Happiness, Hope, Hopelessness, Joy, life is precious, Music, Postive Thinking, Religion and Spirituality

15 Oct 2013

Autumn Fishing Memories

It was the first days of autumn. I can still smell the mix of oil and gasoline from my dad’s Evenrude small engine. We carefully slipped into the aluminum boat and shuffled our tackle to the middle. With a couple of pulls of the cord the engine stuttered on and we were off.

There was a light mist on the lake, In the early morning there wasn’t a lot of wind for a fall day. The lake was more like a mirror and the trees surrounding them had begun to turn colors, bright orange and reds and burnt browns. The color of the trees extended onto the small lake like dashes of fire as the sun came up in the east. The small motor didn’t disturb the water much, but moved our small flat-backed canoe forward slowly across the small lake with an echo.

Headed for a small bay off the shore of a marshy area things were optimistic for a catch. My dad would say that there was a special place- off the shore where fish would congregate. I always thought that kind of funny because I had thought of fish in schools, but his term made it sound like they were lined up for Sunday church. Where the small fish were the bigger fish were bound to be nearby feeding on the minnows. The large mouthed fish we were after were not quick to hit the bait, but when they did they would pull hard.

As we settled into the marshy inlet we heard some splashes of wild life on the shore. A muskrat perhaps, or a raccoon hiding behind the tall cat-tailed marsh grass. Some swirls in the water proved that there was opportunity under the water for a morning of success and surprise.

It was a very special time. No matter what the catch. Special because we had shared our bacon and egg breakfast in the first light of dawn, we had dressed for the chill of morning knowing that as the sun rose the temperature would rise with it. The early day would give way to blue sky and a beautiful fall day – what we called Indian summer.

I cherish those days even now . I wish I had spent more of those kind of days with my kids. They were special then and decades later they are still there – in my recollections of a time that will ever be imprinted on the memory of my childhood.

I had some great times with my kids over the years and I hope they will remember them for the many years to come. My advice to you – to my kids. Embrace the memories, be conscious that they are there and soak them in. They’re worth more than most any riches you can accumulate in your life.