Tracks In The Dust

A Father's Advice About Learning the Mission of Life

Archive for the tag “Who Am I?”

15 Aug 2014

Being At Peace

To be at peace with yourself takes the effort. It takes a path you are willing to follow to get there.

It takes a resistance to fear, to the evil that comes from every aspect of life it would seem these days.

But with the latest catastrophic thing in our lives right around the corner, we can easily get preoccupied with the notion of not being at peace. At peace with ourselves, at peace with each other. A level set with life that only God can provide I would think.

But it starts with us. We cannot succumb to fear. To our anger. We must conquer it. Our fear of circumstances. Our fear of the world around us.

People do so many things that make me mad but
Angry isn’t how I want to spend what time I have
Cognitive dissonance they call it
I wonder just how small it
Could be made to be in me?

life in the city is so densely packed
fear of each other is an accepted fact
fear soaks into concrete just like grease
fear is the antithesis of peace – “TIme I Have” by David Crosby

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. – Mathew 6:34

It takes effort finding peace in ourselves with the “time we have” and the world around us. The opposite of that is to surrender to fear, to give in to the darkness around us. It will mean we may need help. It is there in many ways, we can help each other… we can look to Him for the help.

Are you prepared to not surrender to fear? To not let worry consume you? Or have you already allowed other things to take over your peace?

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged David Crosby, Doubt, Fear, Fighting Anger, Finding Peace, God, Grace, life is precious, mental-health, peace of mind, Sprituality, Tomorrow, uncertainty and doubt, Who Am I?, Who Are You, Worry

24 Sep 2013

Triggering Memories

Memories are a good thing. You don’t want to dwell on them every minute of every day, but they signify who you are.

There was a time the other day when I was listening to some music on “shuffle” on my audio system while doing some work around the house. I love the shuffle idea actually, since I have so many songs on my hard drive. I just hit the play button and it shuffles around the 23,000 songs I have.

Some times it means I am having to fish for my remote and move it ahead when something just doesn’t mix right with my mood, but more often I am surprised at what it picks and even what I own.

But there were a couple of songs in a row that truly triggered memories I had long since tucked away. Not like I was trying to suppress them ( and I am sure some psychologist would say I was), but they were just far enough in the past that they hadn’t passed my mind. Those memories were rich with things that made my adolescence a composite memory of joy and wonder

Like I said, I don’t make a chore of sitting in front of old pictures ( not that I have very many from my teen years, since we didn’t have a phone/camera in our pocket those days). I don’t have much time these days to reflect on the past very often, and have come to cherish the present and what it can bring.

But there are those times, when a smell, or something someone says, or a TV program or movie, or some picture can jog memories that have long since been filed. Some are melancholy and some are even more painfully sad, and others are rich with thoughts of time long since passed. It’s good to know they are still “in there” somewhere- in my head.

Do you have that happen to you? Maybe I am an exception, but I think I am not alone.

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged being remembered, cherish, choices, Memories, Music, Recalling the past, Remembering the past, Self-Awareness, Who Am I?, Who Are You

26 Jun 2013

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Appreciating Acceptance

Since as early as pre-school it would seem that there is a desire for acceptance. A desire or perhaps a need to be part of the “group” that has some common goal, even if that is just to be the first on the playground or have the same favorite color or game.

Even more later in life I suppose, as we move into our adolescent years, there is a strong desire (maybe part of the hormones) to be accepted. Be part of a team or a clique, be accepted by the person(s) we romantically desire. Even for those anti-society “rebels without a cause” there is a reason to be accepted in a group.

There a likely hundreds upon thousands of academic books about this topic. I am sure that they all wrap things up into some human characteristic that is inherent in our DNA or something. Wonderful that so many pages can be written to draw up a conclusion about the whole thing of acceptance.

For us in the adult world – most of us are always in need of things like friendships, acceptance in our work spaces with our peers and the boss, relating to others on all sorts of levels on topics from crafts to politics.

There is one place that isn’t often part of that equation as it should be in my view: church. A place where all people are seeking acceptance, and looking for others that see that opportunity to be accepted as well. Just talking about the gathering of people- not the building, but the church as a collective of people who believe that the mission is to continue to extend the hope, spirit and faith. Surrounding yourself with people who have the same perspective can become refueling for the soul.

I think that the first step to positively appreciate your acceptance, is to recognize and accept the spiritual guidance that is inside of you, and accepting yourself first.

I tell my kids to focus on knowing what you need and why you think you need it. Learn to be yourself if you want to be accepted by others. If you don’t know who “you” are – how are you going to gain acceptance from others? how can you even to accept others?