February 26th, 2018
We all know that gratitude is a beneficial addition to any life. So, when the idea of gratitude comes to mind, we mentally grab ahold of some possession, experience or loved one and express a moment of gratitude by mentally or vocally stating “Thank you” for whatever the chosen blessing is at that moment. And our day continues.
Is that it? Hardly. Just because we say or think we are grateful for something does not mean that we have truly entered the realm of gratitude.
The benefits of gratitude are given freely only to those who can FEEL grateful. The benefits of gratitude come not from the right words but from the total immersion of our being into the feeling of gratitude.
For instance, if you want to be grateful for a loved one you can bring to mind their face and utter a thank you. But note the difference when you bring to mind not just their face but exactly how you feel when they are close to you. By keeping your focus for more than just a mere moment you can FEEL the joy spread to every cell in your body. You spontaneously smile at the remembrance of their smiles and laughter and hugs. You can feel the joy course through your body. At that moment you have tremendous gratitude for them in your life and for the feeling that the thought of them elicits from your very being.
Focus on your gratitude not just until the right words are finished but until the joy of those words and pictures are felt in every cell in your body.
The realm of gratefulness is filled with a heavenly, beautiful feeling and that is the true reward of gratitude. Every cell in your being rejoices and renews itself when you take the time to tune into the FEELING of gratefulness. Feel it and enjoy.
Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.
(c)2018 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
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February 19th, 2018
There is no malady in medicine that is called “feeling weird”. It’s not about dyeing your hair orange and wearing strange clothes. It’s about that feeling that something just isn’t right. Maybe it just happened this morning or maybe it is a familiar but unwelcome guest that shows up unannounced way too often.
You know how it starts. Something doesn’t feel right so you take a personal inventory and hope to find a cause to treat. Is it a bug, a nutritional deficiency, the beginning of the end, etc., etc. Far too often there is no answer and fast on the heels of “feeling weird” comes anxiety who is more than happy to take “feeling weird” to the next level.
The next level is the unholy trinity of feeling weird, anxiety and fear. At this point your mind is flooded with dark possibilities and only dark possibilities. You reach for anything that is floating because you feel like you are drowning. Maybe it’s prayer or maybe it’s food or drugs or alcohol or sleep or anything to reclaim a better feeling. The battle is on.
But is battling the answer? Do we want to fight this feeling? Do we want to declare war on our anxiety and fear? Do we want to be in the ring with an adversary who is familiar to us but who has unknown abilities? Has it worked before?
How about we try something different? How about we stop battling and start building. How about we focus not on what is wrong but about what needs rebuilding? Can we honestly answer some questions?
For instance, are we sitting too much? Are we actively pursuing wellness? Are we walking, exercising and breathing in a productive, conscious way? Are we filling our minds and our environment with beauty? Are we focusing on that which brings us joy? Are we getting enough sleep, enough touching and enough smiles and laughter?
Focusing on building wellness is not going to empty the hospitals or even make you immune to “feeling weird” but it will change your perspective. It will give you hope. And maybe, just maybe it will give you the clarity and the courage to see and take the next step in building a more content and powerful you. In building we have possibilities. In battling we always have the fear of losing.
Ask yourself – Where can I be building instead of battling? Health? Relationships? Self esteem? Whatever the answer, build don’t battle.
Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.
(c)2018 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
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February 16th, 2018
Last week I was looking out over the vast expanse of the ocean and I was thinking about some of the problems in my life. Some stuff from the past, some stuff about my children and some generally unsettled stuff was the entirety of my thoughts.
The thoughts started out as just simple musings on life and before long they deepened into full blown dark clouds. How could I help my daughter? How could I stay out of the rut of daily living? How could I make a difference for those I love? A cascade of other thoughts came to join those and I was lost in the land of “Questions Without Answers”.
I don’t know how long I was lost but all of a sudden I was back in the present. I looked around at the water and the sunshine and the more present I became the faster the problems retreated. I knew they would never disappear but like clouds parting after a dark storm, there was increasing light.
In the next moment came one of those rare occurrences, the long sought after AHA! moment. Suddenly and without any conscious prompting by me, across my mind came the words – “RIGHT NOW IT’S GOOD!”. And it was!
Right now my problems were still there BUT there was no immediate crisis. Right now I was healthy and functioning. Right now there may be dark clouds on the horizon but they were not blocking the light from me right now. Right now it really was good!
Suddenly I thought about how many good moments in my life were totally eclipsed by by my thoughts of things unrelated to that moment. I was standing in the beautiful sunshine looking at the beautiful ocean and I might as well have been in a dark dungeon because I experienced none of the beauty around me. How many times had I done this???
I soon realized that by repeating “Right Now It’s Good” to myself” I was transported to the present reality very quickly and 99% of the time it really was good. I’ve always worked at staying in the present and this little powerhouse of a phrase got me there faster than ever.
I’m not PollyAnn-ish enough to believe that there will only be good times every time I repeat this to myself. There will always be times when Right Now is terrible but there is far, far fewer times than I ever imagined. Most of the time when the present seems terrible it has nothing to do with the present moment. It’s all about dark thoughts of the past or dark thoughts about the future.
I share this with you today so that you too can know and see your present moment for hopefully being better than your current thinking. Right Now It’s Good!
…always counting that the worst will happen, because it may happen. To these I say How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened!”
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Adams, Apr. 8, 1816
“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.” -Mark Twain
Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.
(c)2018 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
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February 12th, 2018
There is something inside of you that often whispers that “Your life could be better if only…” and that’s where the whisper always fades away. So you search your life, your circumstances, your environment for the answer. You settle for the usuals, more money, more of this or that and you go back to your standard routine.
Without cause or reason the whisper always reappears “Your life could be better if only…”. Sometimes it’s just an annoying reminder that you are missing something and sometimes it prods you to meditate or buy a book or pay for a seminar. After the high and the clarity from the book, meditation and seminar, life settles back into a very familiar pace.
You search haphazardly now. You try being “not you” and you get a few answers but the energy it takes to be not you is exhausting. You look to philosophy and religion and the answers you receive sit like beautiful, unique snowflakes in the palm of your hand and after a while what seemed so rare turns into common drops of water. Days of life pass and there it is again “Your life could be better if only…” and this time maybe a trinket or piece of clothing is bought to soothe the unknowing and the searching is all but over.
One day in the quiet, far from searching, the whisper starts again and this time you surrender and for the first time allow it to finish. “Your life could be better if only… you would spread your wings. You have wings but you don’t use them. Remember always that life is drudgery to the eagle that walks instead of flying. Fly away from that which is toxic. Fly away from self imposed limitations. Fly away from those who would belittle or harm you on any level. You were given wings to fly and talons to protect you. You are whole and complete.”
Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.
(c)2018 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
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