mental-health | Tracks In The Dust

Archive for the tag “mental-health”

05 Mar 2014

Life Priorities

Your life’s priorities. If you had to list them you may find it easy or it may be harder than you expected.

I’m guessing that day-to-day however, you probably don’t allow much time to reference that list. Time starts to consume the day and like most of us, it can divert attention elsewhere. Maybe it’s the work deadline we have to meet, getting the kids to school, housework, watching your favorite TV shows, making dinner, networking on Facebook or walking the dog. Whatever it is there seems to be things that get in the way of the “real” priorities in our lives.

There are things we let become priorities over the fundamental things that should count. Things like money, being noticed in the big world we live in, even our friends and family distract us from the most important things.

We have to remember the joy we get from the grace of God. I am certain that right there someone reading this interprets that as something “religious” and stops reading. I know over my life I have fast-forwarded by the simple messages because I think that someone has an agenda about God. But is it NOT a bible-thumping Jesus message that was going to get lost in all the rules and regulations that we humans wallow in to justify our beliefs.

It isnt that way. It is more of the message and less of the rules.

Everyone I meet is searching for something, although some of them will deny it. Striving for adjusting their priorities in their lives so that they can be better, have a better life, be better parents or be better people. Finding that elusive center in their lives can be consuming. Money, friends, possessions, power, travel – whatever seems to validate the life we live. We can simply miss the priority. The center.

Many people have found it. They are settled in their lives. I can tell you personally that priorities get away from me. I know that those “other things” in my life have taken over the simple core value of being settled in my life. It should be the priority of Him.

25 Feb 2014

Take the Time To Sing

“With your head up, with your eyes closed. Not because you love the song, but you love to sing” – Aaron Marsh

I realize I will forever be tied to music.

MGert Concert Picture

Many of my past family ancestors were artists, many of my relatives today are artists, painters, writers. Creators of the “arts”.

My passion has always been to sing. From elementary school choir to high school musicals. In rock bands that were such great fun in school to working to make it a profession by touring around with a bus ( not successfully by the way). Just jamming in garages or making sounds in basements made for revitalizing enjoyment. Even today I get to sing at church from time to time with the band ( yup, not a “choir” but a great bunch of musicians).

When I get in the car I put on music, when I am relaxing I put on the playlists, when I am working on things I put on music rotations. Parties? Without music? No way.

Concerts are an event, and more often the better. My kids taught me how to experience the music today. I have tens of thousands of songs on my hard drive, own one thousand vinyl records I can’t seem to let go of (even though I don’t have my turntable connected). Songs from every genre, rock music from the beginning, eclectic, progressive, jazz, soul, R&B, even disco ( but not too much :))

So like so many others I around me – I sing. Never going to win any trophies or competitions. But I love to sing.

What about you…? Like to sing? So SING. Not because you love the song- but you love to sing.

COPELAND: You Love to Sing

Posted in Life's Sound Track (Music) and tagged Aaron Marsh, Copeland, Grace, Happiness, Joy, mental-health, moments, Music, Personal Soundtrack, Rock music, Singing, Songs, Songs About Not Giving Up, Sprituality, Your Life's Soundtrack

21 Feb 2014

2 Comments

It Goes Without Saying

I have often heard the term “it goes without saying”. Unfortunately it seems these days not all people take that advice.

There are times when it is good to be silent. It is good to be quiet. What would be said would be of no use, other than to effect someone in a negative way for no gain (other than spite I guess). Speaking just to be heard. To me it seems like that happens a lot these days. On the news, the Internet, even in social conversations. If it can be said- someone more often than not finds a way to always say it.

Shock value? A reason to feel superior, or make a point to get ahead personally? Not sure. I have posted before, the world is full of noise. And with all that noise comes the desire to be heard. \

Even if what is being said is nothing at all. Often we want to hear what famous people are saying, or politicians because we want to know that they are saying something we would say… but then they spout off nonsense (often, not always) and we go ahead and repeat it.

Really- “it goes without saying”! But we say it any way. The very old adage that “Silence is Golden” is wasted in the millennial soup that comes from hundreds of channels on TV, thousands of URL’s on the Internet, millions of social net-worker’s who want nothing more than to share their words. Opinions presented as facts, facts distorted as truths, truths masked by agendas, agendas built around being heard as often as one can.

Okay – so maybe what I am saying- goes without saying. Maybe I shouldn’t be spouting off about how people say things just to be heard, after all I am on this blog right now – doing the same.

Here I am, saying people may want to consider silence, be “quiet” instead of always saying things. NOT saying things can be just as effective, and sometimes even more so than rattling on.

So I am done. I have nothing more to say on this matter.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Acceptance, Being quiet, being remembered, Being Thoughtful, choices, Making A Difference, mental-health, Opinions, Reality Check, Sharing Opinions, Silence is Golden, Too Much Talk

29 Jan 2014

Facing Your Fear Through Faith

Faith.

It’s easy to give-in to the pressure of the people and things that are happening around you. We have a tendency to reach for our own personal courage and convictions to help defend ourselves from those things that seem to attack our sensibilities.

Defending the purpose of our day and the reason for our existence ends up being something that takes a lot of effort and seems to be an unending lifelong job.

It’s a wonder we don’t just give-in to those things that create personal fears and doubts. But we have something that is much stronger than our personal resolve, something that is the shield that helps to make each day what God intended it to be. We can stand firm in our faith and not let personal fear and doubts chip away what God has asked of us.

There will be numerous attacks on our faith. There will be numerous reasons put into our path to convince us to step aside from the strength God provides. Often we can forget what makes us strong, and try to overcome things ourselves.

We tend to believe our strength is ours alone, and then when things aren’t going the way we plan- we give into the fear that waits inside us and we ignore the place of real strength. As a personal cancer warrior I battle that every day of my life.

So there is one answer. Put it all in your faith in Him. Make sure you are consciously aware of the strength it provides;be sure to use your faith and confidence your faith to make yourself stronger each day of your life.

Count on that faith to make the decisions you need to make. Count on the courage that it provides when things aren’t going the way you think it should – because trusting in Him will make the difference. Looking at your life through God will allow you to “be on your guard”.

I had posted this on another blog of mine, but it seems to ring true every day of my life. How about your life?

It’s something to work on daily. It is practice in our faith that will make us strong. Standing firm on what that will provide the courage we need to face our fears and doubts.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Acceptance, Cancer, choices, Compassion, facing fears, Faith, Joy, life is precious, mental-health, personal courage, personal fears, Philosophy, relationships, Religion and Spirituality, Sprituality

23 Jan 2014

Why Don’t We Ask More Questions

Advice I give my kids isn’t always followed, but I keep trying. Hoping they keep listening. One advice I have gave them is to “ask questions”.

Today it feels like we are always living with ‘sound bytes’. Short little sentences that say lots but really don’t mean much. Maybe that’s what really motivates a lot of people today when you get in conversations with them. When you ask for information about something, short answers. Sometimes ( maybe often) incomplete. The answer is the answer for your question, it isn’t a lie… but it is missing things. Things they know and you don’t.

Now you can accept the answer, you can decide it is all you are going to get- or it is all you need to know. Many times that’s just fine. I mean if you call an ice cream store and ask them if they have vanilla ice cream, they can answer yes or no (or maybe perhaps). If you are good with that- now you can go to get vanilla.

What they might not tell you is that there is French vanilla, or vanilla with vanilla beans, or vanilla with chocolate sprinkles. Do you care? Perhaps not.

But when there are important decisions to make in your life, things that could improve it, or help avoid otherwise painful situations, or take you on a new direction you may otherwise have not experienced. Then you should be prepared to ask more questions, be more clear about the opportunity or the path ahead.

But ironically, in those situations many times I find myself and those around me asking just the simple questions, getting the sound bite answers, and moving on. Often things that could be meaningful are left unsaid. It’s not that the other people are withholding information, they just aren’t thinking you need to know- or want to know.

So that’s what I have learned in my old age: Follow up questions and answers with more questions. And it pays to LISTEN to the answer. It will provide you the fodder for the next question. Without you may be missing the opportunity, you may be missing a chance to better understand the choices, or better understand your fellow-man.

Simple as that. Yet with short 145 character sensibilities these days, with text message approaches to conversational English and people with so much input that short answers seem desirable- it feels like there is a lot things missing.

Not getting the whole answer feels like it happens a lot more often these days. It isn’t intentional. It is just “fill in the blank approach” to things. So that’s my advice to my family. Ask the questions you need and follow-up with more questions. Be sure you know the course. A lot of times once you do you realize there are people who want to provide more, and make your life better in the cause of it .

I like vanilla ice cream. I like to know all the flavors of vanilla, do they have toppings, can they put it in a cone, can they make it into a shake? Not sure. But always good to know the options. Of course there are more important things than that to know on our journey. Right?