The hardest times are behind you

January 30th, 2012

A beautiful young woman I once knew always used to say that “The hardest days in life are behind you”. It always sounded a bit unbelievable but I never argued the point because I thought that someday we would be lovers and I didn’t want to jeopardize my chances by arguing with something she felt so strongly about. We never became lovers but we became close friends and one day she taught me what she meant by that phrase.

Four years after we met, Sherry was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. We were close friends by then and I did everything I possibly could for her. One treatment after another failed and it became hopeless. I can remember one night thinking about Sherry and thinking that I hadn’t heard “The hardest days are behind you” from her in several weeks and I figured to myself that I would never hear them again from her lips.

Almost on cue, I walked into Sherry’s hospital room the next day and there was Sherry smiling and the first words out of her mouth were “You know, the hardest days in life are behind you”. That was it. I couldn’t be silent now. “How can you go on saying that Sherry? You’ve got the fight of your life ahead of you.” She looked at me and smiled.

“When you are going through hard times, it’s never for the first time. You’ve struggled before and it was much harder then.” I asked her how could anything be harder than what she was going through now? “When each of us was a baby, we had to learn everything and we had to adapt to everything. We couldn’t say what we felt or needed. Hell, we couldn’t even roll over by ourselves in the beginning but you know, we made it. We learned to communicate and walk and tell people just how we felt. Now we can tell people we love them. We can say yes we want this or no we don’t want that. We are much more powerful now. We just forget to give ourselves credit for all we have accomplished. If we just remembered how strong we were we could handle anything now or ever. That same power is still inside of us”

Sherry only stayed around for a couple of short weeks after that but her words are with me still and I pass them on to you now. Take a moment to see how far you have come, all that you have experienced and all the obstacles that didn’t stop you. You are powerful and you have always been powerful. You can do anything you put your mind to and keep in on. You have already climbed mountains. Set a goal and go after it. It’s easier than you think because “You know, the hardest days of your life are behind you”. Thanks Sherry.

(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com

 

Behemoths

January 23rd, 2012

When a house withstands a severe storm we say that it was strong and reinforced well. When a person withstands a severe storm we say that they were strong and fortunate.

The fact is that anyone who survives a bout with adversity does so because they were strong, yes, but not because they were fortunate but rather because they too were reinforced well.

What we believe has great power. Whether it is true to others or not is inconsequential. The seed of a belief once planted remains nothing but a seed but given repetitive thought, it soon sprouts and grows. Further repetitive thoughts and it becomes a giant, practically indestructible behemoth.

This is wonderful if it is a belief that enlivens us but the same process holds true for those beliefs that damage us. Beliefs of lack, beliefs of unworthiness, beliefs of misfortune all grow to become behemoths too.

We don’t have to watch every single thought that runs through our mind but we do have to pay attention to those thoughts that have now become familiar. These are the ones that have shaped you.

One of the greatest blessings in life is the knowledge that we are the creators of our thoughts. We can choose which thoughts we will allow to repeat. We can choose to build our own indestructible behemoths and it can be the ones that enliven us. Take control of your thoughts starting today. Focus on awesome thoughts and not awful thoughts. The truth is that you really are awesome. Think about it.

(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com

 

Diamonds

January 16th, 2012

You were not sent here to live an ordinary life. You were not sent here to just make it through unscathed. It would be like using a powerful computer to hold the door open. You were meant to create answers. You were meant to go into the diamond mine and figure out how to get the diamonds and not waste a whole life sitting at the entrance waiting for someone in the mine to throw you a tiny diamond.

However your life has been up until now, what matters is what you do today and tomorrow. Between right now and the end of your life you can rewrite your legacy. If there are wonderful things in your past you can highlight and build upon them. If your past is a little murky you can make the rest of your days so brilliant that the murkiness will be obliterated.

This is it. This is exactly the moment that the rest of your life starts. This is wet clay, a blank canvass, the first page of a new journal. Some day in the future you will look back at this week and either pass right over it or you will look back at this week and say “That was the week that I started.”

Two questions will surface if you decide to start. First, “What do I start?” The answer is; take a step toward who you dream of being. Second, “What if I fail again?” The answer is; this time you can’t fail.

There is no second chance on any yesterday. There is only a limited amount of first chances on the days in front of you. This one, right now, begs you to begin. Smile to yourself, commit and begin. A future you will be very happy that you did.

(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com

 

Staring at Shiny Objects

January 9th, 2012

I drove all night to get to the cabin before dawn so that I could get a couple of hours of sleep there before the climb started. I was the last one up in the morning and I walked out to the living room to greet the others. They were watching the stock market on one TV and the world news on the other. As they packed their gear, they kept a running commentary on what was being reported.

I grabbed a cup of tea and I asked “What’s the weather going to be like today?” They looked to each other and then back to me and most shrugged their shoulders and a couple just stared. No one knew.

Every one of them knew what the stock market was doing and what was going on in the world but not one could tell what was going to personally affect us that day. One guy inched over and changed the channel to the weather station and everyone turned to stare.

We spend so much time trying to learn things and so little time on discernment of what we are learning. I knew a fellow once who knew everything there was to know about whales but didn’t know his own son was an addict.

Ask yourself “What am I learning?” And then ask yourself “What means the most to me?” If there is a similar answer to both questions, you are doing fine. But if you’re learning about the latest movies or gossip and your success means the most to you, there’s some adjusting to be done. Are you learning about what means the most to you?

There is a plethora of info out there. Some of it can help you to be more loving, more successful, more knowledgeable, more aware and a lot of it can waste your time, your life. Ask yourself, every now and then “Is what I am doing and thinking right now adding to my growth, my dreams, my goals or am I just staring at shiny objects?”

(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com

 

The Year of You!

January 2nd, 2012

This new year is a special one and I imagine that you already have that feeling but what you may not know is that this year is special not because of what will happen in the world but because of what will happen with you. This is definitely, unequivocally, without any doubt, The year of YOU! That’s right, this is your year.

You have reached a point in your life where you have everything you need to fulfill your dreams. You have thought enough, studied enough, talked enough, worried enough, experienced enough and now you get to use it all! There are no caveats. This really is your year. All you have to do is believe and go right on believing. That’s it!

You don’t have to change a thing. You just have to walk your talk. That’s right, just walk your talk. Start doing what you have been preaching to others. Start owning up to power inside of you. Start believing in you like you tell others to believe in themselves. Start giving pep talks to yourself instead of condemnation. Do what you tell others! Walk that talk of yours! Be happy. Be grateful.

One more seminar or sermon or book or course or bit of travel will not put you finally in that place of confidence in yourself. Only your uncompromising belief in your own unlimited possibilities will do that. This is your year. Do not hide your light under a basket anymore. Do not wait for some magic turnaround.

You can ask, beg, plead, pray, meditate, contemplate and light candles but all is useless until you start telling you: “This is the day I begin to live my life not in response to someone or something else but in complete harmony with my highest aspiration, my dreams. This is the day that, come hell or high water, I begin to like myself enough to create instead of worry. This is the day that I will look back and say it began that day.” This is the year of you and the celebration starts as soon as you say so. Ready? Let’s start this party!

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