August 29th, 2011
What’s right?
Every single person that has ever lived has had moments of darkness in their lives. For some the moments are brief and for some they are endless. Jesus, a being filled with love and a clear Heavenly connection wasn’t exactly dancing that night in the garden of Gethsemane. When Lao Tzu turned his back on his students and walked out through the gates of the city, he wasn’t whistling a happy tune. When the man who would become the Buddha leaped over the walls that night leaving his opulent lifestyle and his wife and child, he wasn’t laughing. EVERYONE has dark moments. EVERYONE has moments of doubt and fear and sadness. EVERYONE is at least a little apprehensive about the future. EVERYONE at times doubts their decisions and choices.
So, what do we do about these seemingly unavoidable moments of darkness in our lives? We acknowledge the condition or state we are in at the moment. We accept that it is real. We admit that this state, like everything else in life, is transitory. We tell ourselves, whether we believe it or not in the moment, that we can change. Next and most importantly, we reach for a better thought. Just an ever so slightly better thought. We can’t reach for the North Pole when we are crawling in Texas but we can reach for something small, something that is right. Bend your finger. It works! Take a breath. It works! Listen for sounds. It works! Sure there are pains and aches and painful memories and not feeling good and not feeling connected BUT THERE ARE ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS SOME THINGS THAT ARE GOING RIGHT! Focus on them. Don’t wrap your darkness around them. Admit to yourself that some things are going right. They are!
It may not seem like much of a change but it’s a start and if you take even the smallest step in a different direction, you are going to change where you are going and where you end up. Whether you find yourself in darkness or light, as often as you can, ask yourself probably the most important question you can ever ask yourself. What’s right?
(C) 2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
August 22nd, 2011
Like the rose bush?
We are all on a path of self improvement although at times it may not seem like it. Like the rose bush, our life goes towards blossoming and not back towards barren. In the dead of winter it may seem that the bush is dead, incapable of life but with the spring rains and longer days suddenly leaves and buds come forth and life is very evident. Our lives will at times seem barren and lifeless. It may be for a winter or a moment or for a decade or more.
We may complain about not having a life. We may cry because the fruits of our labor seem to have not come this year or for a few years. We may even contemplate giving up. Can a rose bush give up? No. The rose bush must grow and so must you. The rose bush must respond to its environment and so must you. The rose bush will grow better in some locations and so will you. The rose bush must wait for its environment to change but NOT YOU!!
Yes, you are like a rose bush but you are so much more. If you want to change you can. If you want a better environment, you can create it. You can turn your dark winter into a bright spring with a thought. A rose bush can’t. You can decide right now to blossom. A rose bush has to wait. You can bring your beauty to the world. A rose bush has to wait until the world comes to it. Yes, you have a lot in common with a rose bush but you are so much more. You can change. You can decide right now to be bigger, better, greater, more loving, more grateful, more giving and it will begin because you will it to be so.
You were given wings and not roots. Fly above your worries and tonight when you go to sleep dream of being greater than you are. Tonight the rose bush will dream the same. It will dream of being you.
(C) 2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
August 15th, 2011
Where’s the good stuff?
You look around and you see your problems. You think about the work in front of you and you feel the anxiety rise. You think about finances and the future and…the darkness descends. Suddenly, because of all of the self work you have done, you realize “Hey! I don’t want to live like this, think like this or feel like this!” Congratulations! You have done well young Jedi! So, you turn off the pessimism and negativity and you look for the good stuff to focus on instead of the bleak and dreary. You look and you look but every time you come up with a positive thought it quickly morphs into a negative. You remember a gift and the joy but it is quickly supplanted with the loss of another gift or the paucity of gifts in your life. Every positive thought is quickly corrupted. What to do?
You look for answers and you cant find them and the reason is that once you are awash with negativity, you can’t get out because there is too much YOU in your thoughts. The original negativity is like wet, black paint on the canvas of YOU. If you want to paint over it you have to wait until it dries or else every color that you use, no matter how clear and bright is going to mix with the dark paint. So, while the paint dries (and it will if you leave it alone!) you turn your attention away from the canvas of YOU and you look for another beautiful canvas. You look for the canvas of people you love, people who love you, people that inspire and motivate you, your Creator, the people who make you smile and you focus on them and not YOU.
Soon, you feel the glow of positivity and positive possibilities and you take that feeling back to the canvas of YOU (which is completely dry now because it hasn’t had a fresh coat in a while) and you paint over it with the colors of love and inspiration and joy and your life is a beautiful masterpiece once again. Sometimes, the best thing that you can do for YOU is to love someone else.
(C) 2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
August 8th, 2011
Ut ameris, amabilis esto!
If you want to be loved, be lovable!
Every time we are hurt, we put another row of bricks on top of the ones that are already there. We believe that the wall we built wasn’t able to keep out the hurt so we’ll go a little higher. We think of it as protection but it’s really burying us.
There is no wall, no bricks, no material in the universe that will protect us from hurt. It is a part of every life. Useless? Not by a long shot. Hurt is the birthplace of compassion. Hurt is the litmus paper by which love is tested. Hurt lets us know just how strong we really are. Hurt tests our faith like nothing else can. Hurt allows us to connect with every being on the planet for there is none who will escape hurt of one form or another.
Why is a baby so lovable? It is because he or she hasn’t been hurt yet. There’s no wall built yet. There’s no hiding from the world. There is just openness. We are told to “Become like children” if we wish to be rewarded. Can you? Can you tear down your wall? Can you say to the world “I’m as strong as they come. I’ve been through hell and back. I don’t need no stinking wall?”
Your spirit is invincible. Always was and always will be. Identify with that part of you. When you tear down your wall, when you open yourself up regardless of the consequences, only then can you love fully and only then can you be fully loved. Vulnerable? You can handle it. You are invincible and most importantly….. incredibly lovable!
(C) 2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
August 1st, 2011
Why are you struggling?
You know that basically you are a good person. You never do anything horrible. Your give plenty of your time to your friends in need. You have a good relationship with God. You live by the rules. You say your prayers. All in all, you would say that you are a good person. So, where’s your reward? Why do you have to struggle? Why is it such a grind to just get a little bit ahead? Why do you suffer?
The answer to all the questions is… start making better choices. In each and every moment choose to feel good. The golden key – your feeling good is not up to anyone else but YOU! There is no greater expression of free will than choosing to feel good regardless of any and all circumstances. Exercise that freedom. No one can do it for you. Choose to minimize the time with people that make you feel down and maximize the time with the people that make you feel uplifted. Choose to think positively about your future instead of thinking negatively about the future of the world. Choose to see challenges instead of obstacles. Choose to live fully instead of just surviving and hold to that vision no matter what. Choose to be grateful every moment for the simple fact that you have another chance to make everything better. Keep hitting the refresh button.
Your life can start to improve this very moment IF you will drop the drama, forget the gossip, jettison the baggage, stop complaining, give up the idea that struggling is part of your life,put on a happy face and make your happiness a priority. Is it selfish? Only if you think making everyone around you and everyone who loves you feel better by bringing your happiness into their lives is selfish. Ask yourself constantly…Am I sharing my happiness or my misery? Which do I really want to give as a gift to my friends and loved ones?
Struggle or smile…your choice. One feels really, really good.
(C) 2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com