Tracks In The Dust

A Father's Advice About Learning the Mission of Life

Archive for the tag “Religion and Spirituality”

14 Jun 2013

Organized Chaos

I have noticed that I spend a lot of time and effort trying to be organized. Maybe you do too?

Perhaps it’s because structure, for many people is a coping mechanism that helps us deal with the chaos and complexity of daily life in a way that we understand.

I feel it everyday, like so many around me, often avoiding chaos and uncertainty like the plague. Amazing as it may seem I think that history has proven over and over that all of our biggest opportunities for creating, for innovating, for “changing the paradigm” or whatever you want to call it… they have all come from that which scares us the most – chaos.

Not that I would welcome it of course, but in the scheme of things when I ponder how to avoid it… I can get darn creative. Sometimes it just becomes an inspiration. Sometimes it is a response to something unexpected. I look around the house some days and see how cluttered daily life has left things. Running from one errand to another, heading off to work or school and then getting caught up in that complex maze of things.

So there it is- those mazes that can make life complex, that chaos that can surround you and make you pause to think “I need more structure, need more control” and not let this get the best of me. Then… I creatively find ways to relax… maybe even get distracted… it will be okay. It will pass. Of course I can always make a list of everything I need to do. I can sort through and see what I can accomplish quickly (quickly- like the list I am making ha-ha).

Finally in the scheme of things I realize that even with all that chaos, that I had another day to cherish the life I have and make the best of it. God has blessed me. And that is on the TOP of my list. How about yours?

List Making (Photo credit: Bunches and Bits {Karina})

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Acceptance, Chaos, cherish, choices, Philosophy, Postive Thinking, Reality Check, Religion and Spirituality, Self-Awareness

16 May 2013

2 Comments

Finding Your Happier Life

Finding a happier life seems somehow elusive, but we have to admit there are barriers that we create.

You know about those things that get in your way of finding the path to improving your daily life, in a spiritual way and in a contextual way. Enjoying the passage of time is a simple foundation of life. But you cannot let barriers get in your way.

A recent article I read reminded me of something a very wise man had taught me years ago. It’s not about money or possessions that make for an enjoyable life. It is more the self-realization that you cannot allow these “Five D’s” to stop you from your journey.

Discouragement. You convince yourself that no matter what you do, your life is never going to get any better . That life is always going to be a painful hurdle, things will never change and you might as well not try.
Doubt. You start to think that you are not worthy of a better life or happiness in your life. Chipping away at the hope you have in yourself and those around you. You 2nd guess your decisions.
Delay. You have worked so hard to make things better in your life, you focus on the positive and don’t like doubt or discouragement get you down. But nothing changes, things still seem to be the same… frustrations, the same as before, and if it hasn’t happened with your effort, it isn’t likely to happen now.
Difficulty. Things are way too hard when they appear that they shouldn’t be. You look around it and “looks” like life is easier for others around you. But not for you. Everything seems difficult. Even the littlest things seem big and hard work.
Depression. So the other 4 “D”s have been wrapped around you like a cloak. You are letting them. You are finding ways to let them and you finally give-in and decide that you don’t even feel like making the effort to change anything in your life. It may even feel like things are “better” if you just don’t do anything and wallow in the sadness and the hopelessness.

They are a barriers between you and your spiritual welfare. Your faith in God. Your ability to enjoy the time here on Earth and share your life with others, as well as center your own well-being.

The first step to a better life is to recognize these barriers. Don’t let them consume you. If you think that is hard, it is probably one of the five D’s applied… and the cycle will continue.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Acceptance, choices, Depression, DIscouragement, Doubt, Faith, Fear, God, Happiness, Hope, mental-health, Postive Thinking, Religion and Spirituality, Self-esteem

19 Feb 2013

The Gap Between Us

There is a gap. A widening gap that is clearly defined these days by the opinion of others.

I think it comes from the need to embrace a position. I mean if you are “for” something worth declaring, or”against” something you want to be sure to defend your reasons… you can fight for your right to believe it as well.

You get to pick something that has 2 pointy ends and show that you have a strong opinion, and in this day and age you get to do that in so so many public ways unlike ever before. There was a time when “clubs” would represent the social perspective in public ways. There was a time when you could sit with your fellow club-members and remiss about the reasons you were together. There was a comradeship about it, a way to gather all of the people who had a genuine interest in something and see them face to face. You would sponsor public events, march in parades and perhaps engage in philanthropy.

Over time and the millions upon millions of connections we make electronically these days, we have depersonalized the equity of joining together in one place and making the effort to be part of the club. The social network was local but strong in its conviction. Its vast

So now it feels like many people are widening the gap, putting themselves on the farthest ends of their passionate convictions, and they are willing to let everyone know their opinion. Politics is a beast – even though there are so many in the middle- others seem to be pulling people to the extremes to prove their point. They even make news programs out of it that really aren’t “news” but the chance to share their extreme opinions to help validate the people out there who share them (really are they changing any extremes?).

There is still a place where everyone can gather. The church as its opinions too, but there are some core defining truths that make being in that group the best opportunity in another life. –

For some of us ( maybe many) we may be adverse to being labeled in one way or another. And those people on the extreme ends of things will accuse us of being soft, not taking sides. It is to their advantage to provide 2 solutions and ignore that there may be a third.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Perspectives, Religion and Spirituality

11 Jul 2012

The Everyday Miracles

Do miracles exist?

They are there in your life. There every day when you step from the curb, say hello to the check out clerk, take the hand of your child, smile at your coworker, so many things that we do each day involve the simple greatness of life. Each action and reaction can cause a chain reaction that you may more than likely never know. Like waves in the ocean, or the wind across the field of grass. We are so unconscious in our simple actions, that we are not paying attention to the motions around us. Do you see such miracles as they happen as we live our lives?

Take a deep breath in, take another one out. Enjoy the fact that you are living on the Earth and are fortunate to be here online in the world-wide web…communicating with each other in such a way that we can share ideas, share the amazement of life, reach across oceans and continents to communicate about all the world has to offer. And when we do, there is an opportunity for confirmation of what being a human-being on this Earth means.

It amazes me everyday how similar so many people are across the globe. Feeling the emotions of sadness, elation, anger and relief, love and kindness, compassion and understanding. It truly is the miracle that we have to experience every day.

We are not alone, we have each other. So much more can be done, and every movement can be a miracle. We are so fortunate that we can decide, when so many others in the world cannot. We can influence simple miracles that will make a difference for someone we have never met, or may never meet. Just like we can influence our neighbours, our family, or friends or the person passing us on the street. We can reach out beyond that and follow our mission while we are here on Earth. Putting our tracks in the dust will eventually blow away with time, but the next persons tracks will take over. And the line can go for eternity with just a simple choice.

There are miracles happening everyday. We all can participate in making them happen. Have faith, be aware of what you can do to affect human change, it seems like it is infinitely more than you are aware of.

Posted in Before and After Things Change, Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Acceptance, being remembered, Eternity, Faith, God, Grace, life is precious, living on the earth, Miracle, moments, Religion and Spirituality, tracks in the dust

22 Jun 2012

2 Comments

Being Authentic

I have always hoped that my kids would grow up understanding the importance of being “authentic”. I think that is a word that may have many meanings to depending on your perspective; genuine, not fake or false, an original/not a copy, something has significance perhaps. Authentic shouldn’t be confused with “original” though, since we all are original, no two exactly alike. We are all God’s people because of that difference.

But to me, people who are authentic have conviction to be who they are because they are aware of themselves. Sure, over the years of growing up and even in adulthood we continue to try to emulate others; like our heroes, our parents, our mentors in living and faith, even our closest and dearest friends and lovers. And we should. Like I said in a previous post, I think we are a mosaic of all the people we have had contact with that have influenced us (good or bad). But we get to decide in the final pass what that means. It is our internal psyche that is going to accept or deny the picture of who we are.

But really didn’t want to take scientific route, I am just expecting my children to continue to be authentic. Be aware of others around them, who they are and what might have brought those people to that moment in time to intersect with our lives. But be genuine then. Be right with yourself. I laugh as I remember when they were growing up how they would desperately need to wear clothes and have their hair like their favorite rock stars. They would wear the latest anti-fashions, say words they could only have heard from other places. They would call others “posers”, when in fact they were themselves. But as they got older things changed outwardly, and hair and clothes changed with them. But always as parents we always asked them to remain true to themselves.

So I keep thinking “be authentic”. Start by being real, start by not lying to yourself about things in your life and how you treat others. Start by depending on your spiritual compass to make positive decisions. Kind of like the accountability scale I posted a while back, you have to be able to admit your mistakes, own your own situation. Then treat others that way. The adage “do onto others…” I think means being genuine to yourself first, and then to the people around you. No matter if those people are only a moment in your life as you travel through it, or family, or intended to be a lifelong dear friends… treat them authentically.