Tracks In The Dust

A Father's Advice About Learning the Mission of Life

Archive for the tag “Opinion”

26 Feb 2015

Lessons Learned Over Time

There’s this song by The Faces which sings about “I wish I knew what I know now when I was younger”. Now I understand the wisdom of age, but when I was young I was certain I had life figured out. I know now that you can get off course from your younger plans.

Off course: That our ideals are sometimes replaced by practicality, that the dreams are sometimes effected by the reality, that life is full of things to embrace but we often run away from them because of our doubt and uncertainty that they are the right things to be embracing.

So there are lessons learned, and like many of my friends and relatives who are with me on the downhill side of the hill, we have a more complete view of the course we have taken. We can see the victories and the mistakes, the failures and the missed opportunities. But life is still good for many of us. It has its priceless golden moments, it has the love of family and friends.

I have learned many lessons only by my experience. Did someone tell me these things when I was younger? Well yeah, maybe and I just didn’t grasp it. A few of them:

Not going to have a positive life hanging around negative people. One of my sons truly understands this and maybe better than I. It’s kind of obvious, but we often blindly don’t see it. I want to tell my kids over and over, be certain that you are surrounded by people who are positive, who don’t want to shape you like them but let you be who you are. Worth repeating.
If something is broke, fix it… don’t just throw it out. We give up very quickly on some things in life that perhaps we shouldn’t. Like friendships, marriages, diets or breaking bad habits. In today’s disposable society I can understand I guess. Just get a new one. Problem is that it costs something – and not always money- to make that work. We don’t think of that right away.
Time is relative only to you and what you do with it. It is the premise of http://www.tracksinthedust.com. TIme goes fast and dust will shift and your footprints will be gone. But the passage of your time on Earth is what you make of it. Time isn’t really real, it is your part in the spinning world and what you believe will happen after you are gone from it that will make a difference in your life.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Acceptance, Advice, choices, Decisions, Grace, Happiness, Life, life is precious, Memories, Opinion, Postive Thinking, Reality Check, Self-Awareness, Sprituality, Who Are You

09 Dec 2014

I Want Music Everywhere

For a lot of us who are music enthusiasts (and perhaps many who aren’t) it feels like we have a soundtrack for our life stored up on our imaginary music list in our heads. Movies, television and other media help encourage the idea that we are in our own sort of “movie” or video, and we are working through our lives with a soundtrack.

These days it is easy to walk through an airport or mall and see people with headphones on. Over the ear Beats headphones (among others) can shut off the rest of the word pretty well and allow for a full scale stereophonic soundtrack to be playing while you are living your daily life.

When I was very young there was “transistor” radios that made portable soundtracks possible. Then in the car, then on tape with the Walkman, then CD’s and ultimately iPods and MP3 players. All designed to allow for a portable soundtrack to play as we moved along our lives from one interaction to another. Even when we are interacting at gatherings, or out in the clubs – we have another soundtrack that complimented our feelings and emotions of the moment.

Perhaps there are some brainwaves that are stimulated by it… allowing for us to be in our own personal movie in our head. Perhaps it is just an emotional indicator for how we see life at the moment, or a way to create the mood we need…. Just watch out for the screen credits to roll (ha)!

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life, Life's Sound Track (Music) and tagged choices, Happiness, Joy, Life Soundtrack, moments, Music, Opinion, Rock music, Self-Awareness

30 Sep 2014

Holding Down (Poems, Prayers and Promises)

Holding Down

Lately my spirit is held down

And my head is bouncing like sound against the walls that are surrounding me

It is that it’s my darkest days

and somehow I’ve acted plays that now lives to make me be

So now I lean to the side and drift

like I am waiting for things to sift through the fine chains that surround

Like a bird on the highway as the cars go by

doing everything from keeping to fly and go where I wont be found

Other poems – my pages:

Songs and Poems from Another TIme

Posted in Poems, Prayers and Promises and tagged Arts and Entertainment, choices, Faith, moments, Opinion, Poems, Postive Thinking

22 May 2014

2 Comments

Empty Nest

Empty nesting time. It is a reality for almost all parents at one time or another. Notice I don’t say “all” parents because I can suppose that some 30-year-old adults are still living with their parents somewhere ( for good or bad).

Empty Nesters

My wife and I can recall some of those days when they were very young. We’d wish for them to be a bit older and provide us some quiet nights sleep and a bit less chasing them around to keep things out of their mouths.

As they grew older we started to realize there were just “different” levels of challenges. Dating, distractions, puberty, peer pressure that leads to all of the moments when you ask yourself ” is this really my child?” During their teens it was sometimes hard to distinguish how they would totally forget the lessons that we would have hoped the had learned in their “formative” years. But yes, they did forget. Often in some cases.

But mistakes will happen ( hopefully not catastrophic or life threatening… each which I have learned can be different) 🙂

We had one child who left abruptly when he turned 18, and didn’t look back. We didn’t really interact with him at all but after 12 years we have finally come to know him again thank fully.

It is hard to let go, but they all have to find their own course in life, and what you have taught them (and they retained) has to be good enough.

My advice to my kids ( if they read these now, or later) is to be centered in who you are spiritually, remember the fundamentals between right and wrong, it’s okay to make mistakes, its okay to be frustrated and angry with life- but you need to make something out of those pitfalls. Apply the lesson to what’s going on ahead in your life.

So here we are – with our empty nest. But honestly we have 4 great kids who we love more than anything, and they are out on their own making a “go” of it. We’ll embrace them the best way we know how. Yup, and here I am at tracks in the dust still trying to share advice. Guess we can all learn no matter how old we get. I am learning how to be an older parent.

Posted in Before and After Things Change and tagged being remembered, Change, choices, Empty Nest, Empty Nesters, Growing up, leaving home, Letting Go, making mistakes, moments, Opinion, Reality Check, relationships

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.