A,B,C,D or E ?

January 31st, 2011

How do you think good when you feel bad? How do you extricate yourself from a maelstrom of negativity?

If you were twenty feet under water and all of a sudden you realized that you were breathing toxic air through your mouthpiece, would you A)Spend some time figuring out how and why this happened so that it didn’t happen again B)Get angry and figure out who is to blame (except you of course!) C)Ignore it because all is just an illusion D) Cry  E)Stop taking in any more toxicity and get back to the surface as quickly as possible!!!!

How often in our lives do we pick A,B,C or D when confronted with negativity? And what happens? We drowned in it. E is the answer to happiness. E is the teaching that every great master has tried to teach us. E has the power that we are seeking. There’s nothing to figure out or lament. Get back to the surface. Get back to air and light and life. Make that your top priority and do it as quickly as possible.

(c)2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com

 

Bloom

January 24th, 2011

Last night was cold and so I brought one of my old, tender plants inside and put it by the front door. This morning with the heat of the house and some sunlight coming through the glass, a flower is blooming. The plant didn’t argue that it was too old to bloom or that it couldn’t bloom because it was January. It just bloomed.

We have so many excuses why right now is not an optimal time for us but you know what? Unlike that old plant we can bloom anytime and under any conditions! That’s right, no matter what hindrances there are in your life right now, you can start to bloom. Repeatedly tell yourself that this is your day, your year, your decade. Tell yourself that it’s your life, your time. Tell yourself that you’ve been surrounded by more than enough fertilizer and you’ve got the light of Heaven shining on you. All that is needed now is your permission. Are you ready to give it?
Go ahead, start the blooming process! Your world was never meant to be gray. Give yourself permission to stand out, to show all of your colors, to bring more joy and beauty to your world. Dance, sing, compose, write, smile, laugh, be kind, be generous, be loving, be brave. Bloom. It’s why you are here.
(c)2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride www.PatrickInspires.com

 

Plant and Harvest

January 17th, 2011

How much love can you give – all that you have. What if you want to give more? Then you have to have more to give. How do you get more love so that you can give more love?
If you wanted potatoes, you wouldn’t just walk out to any field and pick potatoes. You have to go to where they have been planted. If you want more love, where would you go to harvest it? Are there people in your life that make you feel loved? Are you spending enough time with them? Are there nurseries of love like homeless shelters and orphanages and animal shelters and sad homes where you can go and watch a little of your warmth bring forth a bounty of love? Can you plant an e-mail or written letter or gift or kindness or visit that will bear the fruit of love for you?
The seeds of love are always inside of you and they will bear an abundant harvest but first they must be planted otherwise they just sit in suspended animation inside of you until you do. Once planted they produce even more seeds and the harvest keeps getting larger. Soon you are filled and you have a bounty to share.
Today is a perfect day for planting the seeds of love. If you put it off you will also put off any harvest. To have more – plant more. Today.
(c)2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride www.PatrickInspires.com

 

You owe yourself

January 10th, 2011

You may owe the bank or a store or a doctor or a friend but the most important debt you owe is to yourself. You owe yourself happiness, as much as you can give. There is no one on this planet that can pay that debt for you. You and you alone are in charge of paying it. When you came into this world there were people who were responsible for your survival but you were and still are responsible for your happiness. Others can and have made you content but full blown happiness is yours and only yours to give to yourself. You may give it to yourself as honest praise for what you have done or you may give it to yourself as a vacation or the fulfillment of a dream or a wish. You may give it to yourself by opening to the splendors of this world or you may give it to yourself by bringing joy to someone else. You may give it to yourself by embracing the spiritual or by changing your priorities. You may give it to yourself merely by being kind to yourself for a change. You may give it to yourself as the gift of a book, a tune, a movie, a sweet, a dream, a smile, a fantasy. Make your happiness a priority. If you sacrifice your happiness for the happiness of another the net gain for the world is ZERO! Embrace happiness for yourself and then share it with as many people as you can and you will make a wonderful, marvelous, joyful difference for you and the world.

(c)2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride www.PatrickInspires.com

 

Happy New Year

January 3rd, 2011


The confetti has been cleaned up. The party stuff is gone. The cheers and the toasts have faded. What is left though is our determination to begin anew, new plans, new goals, new dreams, new this, new that. Even though the party is over we are still holding on to the newness, hoping this time it won’t fade. The truth of the matter is that it will fade. Nothing stays new forever but that’s not the problem. We still remember that it is a new year but after the first day we drop the word HAPPY. That’s right, we said it hundreds of times. We thought it and read it hundreds more times. And yet one day into the new year and it’s gone. The problem is that we have forgotten the HAPPY in happy new year. The NEW will fade the YEAR will pass but the happy can be there for you at all times if you will but work on it.
One year from now, God willing, you and I will look back and judge 2011. Our criteria for whether it was a good year or a not so good year will be the same as when we looked back this year – Did my happiness outweigh my worry? Did last year promote or curtail my future happiness? Well you know what? Next years answers are in your hands right now. Your happiness or lack thereof is going to be determined by how many people you made happy and that includes yourself. Politics, economy and family will play a much smaller role then you believe. The larger part will be your commitment to happiness regardless of external influences. It will be your dedication to making life a little brighter for yourself and everyone around you. It will be your choosing of love over drama, compassion over ego, charity over greed, smiling over frowning and caring over cynicism that will make all the difference. You can do it. HAPPY new year!
(c)2010 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride www.PatrickInspires.com