Amazing not safe

December 12th, 2016

 As I walked around the cardiac care unit (again!) showing that I was fit enough to leave, I looked into each room as I passed and in every room I saw people who were alive. I don’t mean alive versus dead. I mean people who were very aware that this wasn’t just another day. I didn’t talk to any of them but I was thinking as I walked by that their last New Year’s Eve’s plans for the new year didn’t include this. Mine sure didn’t. And that’s when it hit me!

I didn’t have any plans. Sure I wanted to go camping and hiking and traveling more but mostly and dominantly, after all I have been through, I just wanted nothing bad to happen to my loved ones or myself. I had slipped into survival mode. Now survival mode is a great place to be when survival in questionable but it is NOT a place to just hang out and watch life go by. Firstly, it’s very stressful because when you are in survival mode you are always consciously or unconsciously considering the opposite. Secondly, survival mode is the illusion that if I don’t stick my head up I won’t get shot. In other words, the cosmic entity that doles out hardships won’t be able to see me!

​​​​​​​What a bunch of organic, grass fed manure I was believing! There is no certainty. This is life and life is a mystery. Unless you are in quicksand get out of survival mode. Survival mode is nothing more than a semi comfortable prison with an unlocked door. You keep praying that nothing bad will come in and so you keep hyper focused on that door to the exclusion of everything else life has to offer. That’s not living! Walk out that unlocked door. Engage the world. You are strong enough to handle anything out there. Go for the summit! You’ll never get to see the view from the top of the mountain if you hold up in a cave on the way up.

Yeah, I’m going to make some plans for 2017. You betcha! They are going to be audacious and magnificent and wonderful. Every day I am going to focus on being alive and being dialed into and open to all kinds of new possibilities. I don’t want life to be safe any more. I want it to be a trip again. I’m trading in safe for AMAZING.

How about you?

Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.

 Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
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Now

December 2nd, 2016

Are you going to die soon? Unknown. Are you going to die some day? Yes.

Are you going to die in your own bed in your clean pajamas with the sheets all perfectly placed around you after spending the last days surrounded by family and friends with enough strength and mental clarity to speak to each one and impart some of the wisdom that you gathered in your years here and at the end look into their eyes and tell them what they meant to you and how much you love them? 
Probably not.

The truth is that the vast majority of people die in hospitals oblivious to those around them. Sudden accidents, heart attacks and strokes take a few more. So, aside from being depressing instead of uplifting, what does this mean?

This means that NOW is the most important part of your life. This means that you and I are never assured that we will get to say all the I Love You’s that need to be said if we wait to say them. This means that there are people out there on this same planet that you and I need to go out and meet. They are not going to knock on our doors.This means that there are places on our wish list that still have not felt our footprints. This means that each hug and each smile should never be done without presence and sincerity. This means that you and I have to go into our box of dreams and dust them off and take steps to fulfill some of them NOW. This means that petty squabbles and petty annoyances will die with us and so will all the chances to connect again. This means that being right means nothing if you are being dead. This means that you and I have been holding back, keeping something in the tank for the future and we need to live bigger, better and more consciously NOW. 
Tell the people you love that you love them NOW. Impart the wisdom that you have learned NOW. Look at all of the photographs from years ago and let them fill you with gratitude NOW. Stop fussing about little things NOW. Dare to plan something new NOW. Do some of the things you were meaning to do someday NOW.

Live NOW. Love NOW. Remember what is truly important and always make it a major part of your NOW. Your life happens NOW and only NOW. Make it a great NOW for you and everyone in your life. Now that’s living.

Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.

 Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
Facebook – Sundrops On Life