Mirror

February 22nd, 2016

Look in a full length mirror and what do you see? Do you see the imperfections? Does what you see fall short of the ideal picture that you have in your mind? Do you see a body that has been wounded by a lack of sleep?

Let me tell you what you don’t see. The mirror doesn’t tell you that your lack of sleep is due to your worrying about your friends and family. It doesn’t reflect the loss of sleep because you didn’t have the money that you thought would help someone. It doesn’t show you the many nights that you stayed on the phone listening to someone who said they had no one else to call. The mirror can’t show you how very much you care.

What you see in the mirror does not reflect the ideal in your mind because the ideal in your mind is a two dimensional figure found only on screens and magazines and you are and always will be a multidimensional being who has lived a roller coaster of a life. You are undeniably real and that is priceless.

​The so called imperfections you see in the mirror are the real you. A Rembrandt painting does not have the same brush strokes as a Van Gogh painting. Is one of them imperfect? If you walk into a museum of priceless works, are they all the same? Yes, you are as unique as any fine work of art. 

Look in that full length mirror again. Do you now see a work of art with depth and character and a hundred incredible stories? Do you see a body shaped by time, love and a lack of love? Can you look long enough to really see yourself because when you do you will find that the real you is looking back at you and thanking you for finally understanding and not judging. Your smile will be the signal that you got it. 

Patrick McBride’s Sundrops On Life 

(c)2016 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
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Faith

February 15th, 2016

 We cry. We beg. We make deals. We say we will do anything to find the solutions to our problems. We get very good at seeing our problems from every angle. We get very good at articulating our problem. We get very good at problem explaining. In fact we get so good that the solution, if it does exist, has no room to enter.

If a problem has a solution we must open a place for it’s appearance. Edison used to take a nap when no solution could be found and many times he would wake with the solution. If we keep intently focusing on the heads side of a coin we would never see the tails side even though it is so very, very close. The problem itself usually resides in chaos. The solution usually resides in relaxation. You cannot find them both in the same place.

But what if there is no solution? Understanding that there is no solution is an answer too. In that case get on with finding the courage to live with the unknowing. Maybe the solution will show up at a later date and maybe not. 

You do not have a magic wand. You are not the highest ranking being in the universe. There is a great power that “knows”. The problems in your life are for you to work on and for you to coexist with when necessary. 

If I may quote one of my favorite Sundrops – “The effort is up to you but the outcome is up to God.” Being okay with that is called Faith and Faith is a great source of both solutions and courage. Relax and give it a try. 

  

Patrick McBride’s Sundrops On Life 

(c)2016 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
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New

February 8th, 2016

We have been given the ability to think any thought we wish but we seldom exercise this gift. We just do the work at hand and only think about what we are doing if it is new. If we have done it before our thoughts will wander. If we have done it many times before our thoughts will wander even further. 

So how do we tame a wandering mind? How do we stay present? How do we become mindful? The answer is written in the last paragraph. “(We) only think about what we are doing if it is new”. So the secret here is to find ways to make each moment new. A baby, puppy or kitten is always mindful and captivated by the smallest thing because all appears new. In a few years the adult, full grown dog or cat will rarely be amused by a ball of yarn.

Being old has less to do with age and more to do with what we think about. If we have found a way to do nothing new we will cease to be mindful and soon we will wander away with our thoughts. 

The key here is to find something new in each moment. This is not ANOTHER day. This is today, right now and you have never been this old or had this much experience.

You have the ability to smile right now. You have the ability right now to see the work that you are doing from a different perspective. What about that thing you call love that you are always thinking about? You have the ability right now to interject more love into your life and thoughts than ever before. You have the ability to walk your talk right now. You can dream, imagine and plan anything right now. 

Right now you can experience this moment with the utmost gratitude because it is a wonderful, glorious moment unlike any other and it is yours to experience and appreciate. Think about that.

Patrick McBride’s Sundrops On Life 
 

(c)2016 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
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Don’t look back

February 1st, 2016

Every change we attempt to make is going to be judged, influenced and battered by the ghosts of our past. So how do we make effective changes in our life?

If you go on certain rides you are going to get scared. If you go into a haunted house you are going to get scared. If you watch a horror movie you are going to get scared. How do we stop getting scared from these things? Answer – we don’t go on rides that scare us. We don’t go into haunted houses. We don’t watch horror movies. 

So how do we stop being battered, judged and influenced by the ghosts of our past? Answer -we don’t unnecessarily go into our past. There is more than enough in this present moment to keep you occupied. Only in this present moment do you have the power to begin anything you want. You can take a step in any direction. In this present moment there is opportunity, choice and a blank canvas. In the past there is only an unalterable history.

Effective change requires presence, your presence. Any change you want to make can start right now. Start thinking about it and it begins. It will continue in a positive way UNLESS you look back. The lessons of your past have made you more than capable of having an amazing present. The lessons have been learned. A review is unnecessary. A comparison is unnecessary. Leave the past in the past. Embrace new beginnings right now and stay with them. 

We don’t have eyes in the back of our head because we were made to always be looking forward. 

 
Patrick McBride’s Sundrops On Life 

(c)2016 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
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