Archive for the tag “tracks in the dust”

08 Jul 2012

Tell Me About Yourself Award

I suppose there are a lot of “awards” in the blog-world of WordPress.com and that all of them have the root of being kind and thoughtful to fellow bloggers. It seems like there are a several that are meant to get more visitors, or share more sites or something.

But I am flattered that someone considered by blog worthy of any recognition. Tracksinthedust.com has always meant to be a list of things just put together that I always wanted to tell my kids, but now they are “old enough” that they either have formulated their own opinions of things. Maybe some of these posts are things that I told them before, or meant to tell them, or just never got around to telling them. I get along really well with 3 of the 4 of them, and they are turning out to be pretty good people, despite the fact that their mom and I had no owners manual.

I always wondered about that, you need a licence to drive a car or own a gun- you need to apply for a loan and fill out paperwork to adopt children or even attempt a laboratory version of parenthood (perhaps). But there’s no test for a man and woman having a child. God willing you leave the hospital and its all up to you. So here I am tracks in the dust, that overtime will blow away on our travels on Earth. We make the decision where those tracks take us, we have the opportunity to follow others or make our own tracks.

Tell Me About Yourself Award

1. Thank the person who nominated you: Thank you Miss Audrey (In Wonderland). When I started posting in WordPress, yours was one of the first blogs I began to follow. I am always amazed with your perspective on life, and certainly where you are in your journey in a country I am not very familiar with. You are about the same age as my kids and I find it comforting that even though you are on the entire other side of the world from them- there are a lot of similarities.

2. Tell the world 7 things about yourself that you have not yet shared

1) I love musicals. Hollywood, Broadway, local theater, made for TV. I am a sucker for them. Can’t tell you why, just am.

2) I have a beard that I have only entirely shaved off twice in my life since I was eighteen. Some of my closest friends think I was born with it. I wasn’t.

3) I have always wanted to be an artist. I mean a painter. But I am lousy at it. I have a very famous cousin who has been an artist most of her life I think. Her talent amazes me every time I look at her work.

4) I have written over a 1000 lyrics to songs, spanning over decades of writing. Poems if you want to call them that. Some of them have music with them, others have gotten music written to them by many of my musical friends. Some just are terrible, but that’s inspiration.

5) I was on the radio hosting a public service topical show about JFK’s assassination with a famous authority, when John Lennon was shot and killed. I spent the next 8 hours playing his music and taking calls. It sticks in my memory all these decades later. Imagine.

6) I have always owned practical cars, but just once it would be great to have owned a hot sports car that goes really fast. Priorities are for real.

7) Give me a subject and 48 hours, and I can stand up and speak about it. I wasnt that way when I was younger, but public speaking just became part of what I do.

3. Nominate 7 fellow bloggers and let them know

A great group of beautiful people, beautiful words, amazing pictures and stories… thank you.

http://noblogintended.wordpress.com/

http://istopforsuffering.wordpress.com/

http://findingravity.com/

http://thetruthwarrior.wordpress.com/

http://hopethehappyhugger.wordpress.com/

http://m5son.wordpress.com/

http://starsrainsunmoon.com/

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Blog, Blog award, Definitions, Happiness, Memories, moments, Reality Check, tracks in the dust, Truth

14 Jun 2012

2 Comments

Contentment

Truth is, the grass is never greener on the other side. It’s greener where you water it. Being content is a reward in itself, and worthy of pursuit.

And godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6).

So many times it appears that there is so much pain in our search for richness in our lives, that for many of my friends and family we tend to forget the simple reward… that is contentment itself. Like a wise friend of mine, a man of God recently recalled the old adage that the grass is never greener on the other side, it is greener where you nurture [water] it.

Some times it makes me sad to see how hard people are working for that contentment. Doesn’t it seem to you that many people are working so hard to define it and pursue it that they don’t realize it is right in front of them? So often we are making plans for the next thing that will get us to the goals we seek, that we don’t stop to see the simplicity of what is right in our path.

We can help others through kindness and compassion,endurance, love and gentleness as so many of my fellow bloggers have said in so many great ways. We can make the world around us a place we want to be. But not through anger and resentment, but through faith in ourselves. But we have to nurture that, we have work to do on making our “grass” on our side of living be green.

And that takes more than just wishing it so, it takes acceptance and peace of mind that by living it – it will come to us. That is the faith in which we need to fight for. Take hold of the eternal life we all can have. It is simple and not complicated, yet we run the other way in pursuit of something that may give us satisfaction, or instant gratification. Like if we grab that golden ring, wow… life will be so much different.

But the reality of life is that it is tough, it isn’t simple in its own daily turn of the clock. It contains the frustration or sadness of death, failures, illness, hate and fear among so many things. The reality won’t change, but you can. Accept that the grass can be green where you stand, with the water you provide to make it grow.

I recall fondly the old movie “Field of Dreams” where a farmer constructs a full baseball field in the middle of his farm in Iowa for what appears to be no reason. “If you build it they will come” the voice whispers. In fact they will come…just grow your faith in what is there in front of you, because others will see it. They will see that your grass is greener and join you for the celebration. The celebration of contentment and the richness of those who will be there with you in this otherwise complicated life while we are here on Earth.

Posted in Before and After Things Change, Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Acceptance, Faith, Field of Dreams, Grace, Reality Check, Religion and Spirituality, Sprituality, tracks in the dust

13 Jun 2012

6 Comments

Save It For Later?

I noticed that throughout my life, I have had a tendency to save things and collect things. A good friend and fellow blogger recently discussed this on his site, and it just reminded me of how good I had gotten. Perhaps too good.

Do you put aside things in places like drawers,closets,garages, trunks or other places in your life? You move them to a place that you can remember, and “save it for later”. Silly things like papers, clippings, pens, pictures, along with collectables like magazines or CD’s ( I have way too much old vinyl records by the way still in storage).

What do you save? What do you find yourself putting aside for safe keeping?

Today I have to give my kids credit, they don’t save nearly as much. So much more mobile than the past generation. That can be good I no doubt, but once again my pack-rat mentality says “what if you need it later?” or “you are such a disposable generation” – like they don’t appreciate the value of their “stuff”. Just accumulating stuff though is not an accomplishment.

Collecting and saving money or valuable things or family mementos isn’t a bad thing necessarily…cherishing history is essential to understanding why you are where you are today. It keeps you from making the same mistakes as your ancestors and appreciating the ways in which they survived to get you where you are in life’s timeline. But there are more important collections. Collecting friends and people around you that you can share in God’s grace and enjoy your time while here on Earth. Not putting aside God in your life. Those are the most valuable things I think. They don’t need to be locked up, they are in your heart and in your mind as those you need and want most.

So for some of us I guess we need to find ways to shake the habit, or make sure we understand that eventually we will run out of room or places for our possessions. For others traveling light and having the fundamental things is all that matters. Either way cherish the people and the spirit of the Word in your life, and things can be good. Real good.

PRACTICAL PROVERBS

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged being remembered, cherish, Divine grace, Eternity, Grace, Happiness, Life, Memories, tracks in the dust

28 May 2012

2 Comments

The Secret of Life

i have told my children, I have told my friends. There is nothing difficult about the secret of life. It is simply enjoying the passage of time. It isn’t difficult. Don’t spend so many hours,days, weeks, months or years searching for it. It may pass you by. You may miss it, you may spend your entire life looking for it. But you only have so much time, and it is time that is what you should cherish. You are able to make it work if you try. It isn’t even hard, although we may always be working so hard to look for it.

It can consume you, as you search. It can mean that you can toss away a day so easily and wonder where it went. It can mean that you have nothing to show for it as you search, and then if you ever do find it – you will ask “what took you so long?” So sit back and look at what has made your life be what it is today, and you may realise that you have it right in front of you. You make it what it is every single day. Thank God for it and enjoy it because the secret of life is simply enjoying the passage of time.

The Secret of Life by James Taylor

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time
Any fool can do it
There ain’t nothing to it
Nobody knows how we got to
The top of the hill
But since we’re on our way down
We might as well enjoy the ride

The secret of love is in opening up your heart
It’s okay to feel afraid
But don’t let that stand in your way
’cause anyone knows that love is the only road
And since we’re only here for a while
Might as well show some style
Give us a smile

Isn’t it a lovely ride
Sliding down
Gliding down
Try not to try too hard
It’s just a lovely ride

Now the thing about time is that time
Isn’t really real
It’s just your point of view
How does it feel for you
Einstein said he could never understand it all
Planets spinning through space
The smile upon your face
Welcome to the human race

Some kind of lovely ride
I’ll be sliding down
I’ll be gliding down
Try not to try too hard
It’s just a lovely ride

Isn’t it a lovely ride
Sliding down
Gliding down
Try not to try too hard
It’s just a lovely ride

Now the secret of life is enjoying the passage of time

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life, Life's Sound Track (Music) and tagged cherish, Definitions, James Taylor, Joy, life is precious, Love, passage of time, Philosophy, Secret of Life, Self-Awareness, spirituality, Sprituality, tracks in the dust, welcome to the human race

25 May 2012

6 Comments

The Touch of Grace In Living

Just the other day someone who I hadn’t seen or talked to in ages happened to communicate with me online. I thought again how much the Internet has changed everyone’s lives in the “Information Age“. As part of our communication it was apparent that somewhere along our past journey I had said something that “stuck” with him and became part of his philosophy in life from that point on.

I didn’t recall saying anything to him that would be that profound, and frankly what I said must have been part of a conversation that I don’t recall now. What it was isn’t even that important to this posting. It did make me think again how much we are all interconnected by everything we do and say every day. Sometimes it may be with a stranger at the checkout line, or someone you meet on your walk with the dog. Other times it could be with those friendships and relationships you have with friends and relatives that pass through your timeline of life (I shudder when I look at my life as a “timeline”- thanks Facebook). It is more than the impact of reading a book, or watching a film, or listening to a song… it is human interaction.

But no matter how we intersect and no matter whether it is brief or an extended amount of time, there is always this chance that you or the other person may be changed by it. If even just in the smallest of ways; or sometimes in the most profoundly huge ways. It is part of God’s wish that we treat everyone that way and it is not always going to work because we often find ourselves centered on our selves. But even then, it can happen. That brush with action or words that can change everything after it.

There is a fictional TV show on US television these days called “Touch” that addresses the idea that much of our world and its actions are interconnected mathematically. There is even going to be a web-based online series based on it called “Daybreak2012”. I think people are guinely curious about their effect on others. Heck, that is likely at the core of many of the blog-sites we are all visiting online today.

Perhaps that is the hidden equation, perhaps it is more on a spiritual level – something that we all possess but often do not acknowledge or recognize we have.

At the end of our lives we may have touched so many people we didn’t ever realize we had. We may had said something or done something that made such a difference but we will never know because that person’s path will never cross ours again.

“There by the grace of God go I” to make my way into the world and leave something behind that is not just “tracks in the dust” that eventually fade away. Instead it is a chain reaction of things that I will not know during my lifetime. But I am excited to know in the next world.

Do you share in the excitement? Can you share in the grace of life?