Tracks In The Dust

A Father's Advice About Learning the Mission of Life

Archive for the tag “moments”

11 Apr 2014

In A New York Minute

In a split second, in the matter of a moment, a second, a minute or a day things can change.

It amazes me that in life’s adventure, during our mission here on Earth we are able to experience things in real time and see so many changes around us. I know some people resist change, and others welcome it. I can say that I expect it.

Sometimes the changes are long-coming, but more often it can be one shift in the status-quo for your life to take another direction. Some times it can be predicted, but we choose to ignore it. Other times it is just a total shift in things.

My wife and I are going to get a chance to meet my grandson, someone we have never met during his seven years on this Earth. Due to a long story of events our oldest son has been out of our lives for over eleven years. Now, in a New York minute – we are planning their visit to our home.

There is a story of the prodigal son in the Bible that rings true, but there are so many twists in our story. We are good with things really, it is good to have the opportunity to meet him. We don’t have any way to explain to him the time lost, or to have him understand the life we had with his father until he left home at age 18.

So we shall let things run the course they are headed. Change is good overall. It was quite a change back on the day our son left home. It will be another when we meet up with him and his son these many years later.

Comes to mind the Don Henley song. Here is a great cover of it. Life is short. Believe.

Posted in Before and After Things Change and tagged Acceptance, Change, Change is good, choices, Don Henley, Fear, Forgiveness, Life, mental-health, moments, Music, Opinion, Self-Awareness, The Eagles

01 Apr 2014

April Fools

We all get fooled some of the time. Some people make a living every day trying to convince you of things that aren’t true.

Sometimes I think we Laughing Walrus want to believe what we hear, we want to see something on the Internet and immediate accept it. Not everything is true, some times things are partly true, and some other times many things may be entirely false. We have to be ready to understand that I guess, but how we weigh it out may not always be totally true at all.

If it fits in our sensibilities, it could be more than enough to allow us to fit it into our truth. So when the day comes for “April Fools” day on the first of April, everyone is a bit more suspicious when they hear something they think may possibly not be true. Its like on the next day April 2nd that is all back to normal. Of course then it wouldn’t be as funny, “just kidding”.

Unfortunately I think we are all suspect of telling things that aren’t entirely true to help make things fit in our lives. We send out twitter messages, point blame because we want to believe something, we pass along gossip or make up things to cover our tracks or guilt.

So for here in the US, April 1st means happy April Fool’s day. Perhaps we all need to be a bit more careful every day…

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Advice, April Fools, Change, choices, mental-health, moments, Opinion, Philosophy, Reality Check, Self-Awareness

25 Mar 2014

Perfection

Easily it can be said that we will never achieve perfection. As humans it is not in our DNA. Nor should it be.

We will strive for it.

We will find ourselves constantly falling short.

We will measure ourselves by what someone else may expect us to be. Or perhaps we may measure ourselves on our own perspectives of what we think we should be.

But in the end- we will fall short.

It is what you do with that will become part of your self-realization, It will be the context in which you are able to live your life. You can choose to measure yourself to perfection, and in some ways that is a good thing. It is the motivator by which we can create our standards to live by. But if we are delusional in using that to apply to the adage that “winning is everything” we may find ourselves in a place that is hard to maintain.

We are rewarded often in our lives for working hard to strive for things. We want to avoid failure, We do not want to be seen as weak or unable to perform to the standards in which we are expected. In our families, in school, at work in our relationships we are always trying to measure up. Accepting that perfection will not happen does not make you mediocre. It makes you human.

We know that we were made imperfect. As humans God has made us that way to allow us to be – well – human. Perfection would be reserved for only one, and He left this earth centuries ago.

So a first step in making your life happier is to accept imperfection. Be sure that you strive for things, but be honest that things will get in your way and no matter how you work it…. you will fall short.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Acceptance, Change, Doubt, Failure, mental-health, moments, Perfection, Postive Thinking, Reality Check, Self-Awareness

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.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Acceptance, choices, Embracing who you are, Happiness, Joy, life is precious, Lying to Yourself, mental-health, moments, Postive Thinking, Self-Awareness, Truth, Who Are You

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