The Tracks In Your Head

There were tracks in the parking lot where the workers had walked through the concrete dust.  It looked like they had sprayed off their equipment and then walked through the water.  They left their tracks.  In the winter, you can see tracks through the snow from animals that cross the path.  When you walk across a just mopped floor, you leave tracks.  These are all visible tracks that usually clean up with some soap and water or melting snow.

You see railroad tracks that lead somewhere down the line and are permanent.  They are straight and the train that runs on them does not deviate from the rail unless an obstacle or engine failure cause it to jump the tracks.  The tracks go in different directions but connect so that the train can transfer tracks.  There are racetracks where people, cars, tractors, motorcycles and a variety of other types of vehicles go round and round with the purpose of winning a race.  There are lots of different types of tracks in the world.

A track can also be a direction.  For example, a person can be on track to graduate or for a job promotion.  There are many definitions for tracks.  There are also tracks in your head.  You may have a well-worn track of worry and anxiety.  It is easy to jump on this track when something goes wrong or fears take over.  You have tracks that focus on schedules, deadlines, tasks, and the overwhelming details of life.  There are tracks that focus on the future and all the possible outcomes.  Tracks that think and worry about family, friends, loved ones, and how to fix their lives.  Tracks of grief where the tendency is to slow down on this journey to remember and linger in the memories.  All these tracks or paths in your head are well-worn and can easily consume and become the focus of life.  Some paths you just keep jumping back on, and it feels like you are going in circles.

Is there a common track that runs through everything in your head - a track that keeps you from going in the wrong direction or being consumed by the negativity and struggles of life?  Can you pull yourself off a path that leads to worry, anxiety, or depression – a thought path that focuses on the things of this world that do not really matter?  For me it is the straight and constant path of God’s Presence. It is finding your straight path that is reliable, constant, right, and provides guidance.  That’s the path to follow.

The head can get pretty complex with all the thoughts, and if you could draw what is in your head it would be a jumbled mess of tracks crossing over each other with some going nowhere and some with an abrupt end.  Some are well-worn because you go over and over them continuously.  Come on, you have to admit those thought patterns in your head can be mixed up, not defined, and feel like they are not going anywhere with purpose.

When your mind wanders and feels lost, anxious or just not yourself, these feelings remind you that you have gotten off track to what is good and right and true.  It is finding your reliable track and returning to it when you get side tracked.

Elaine’s website – www.livinginthedifferent.com

Elaine J. Sturtz

Living In The Different