March 26th, 2012
Is there success in your future? Most of us pursue success like the proverbial carrot in front of the horse. The story goes that if you put a carrot just out of reach in front of a horse he will pursue the carrot and just keep on trotting along. Is there some way that you can just stop and enjoy the carrot?
The answer is…drum roll please….. No, you cannot stop. Life has no off switch. A change switch but no off switch. Yes, you can still enjoy A carrot. Notice that I said A carrot and not THE carrot.
What success is for you will always be just that – YOUR idea of success. NEVER let someone else’s description of success be yours. If your description of success and theirs matches, great but let it be because you found yours and didn’t just blindly or lazily adopt theirs.
You needs will change with age and circumstance and so your carrot should change also and that is why I said A carrot and not THE carrot. A success may be closing a big deal. A success may be potty changing a child. A success may be completing a 5K. All of these can be carrots for one person. In other words, let your carrot change!
You are never a success because you found just one carrot to pursue and you got it. If all you have at the end of this life is one carrot, you’ve wasted your time. Go get the carrot of happiness and the carrot of love and the carrot of God and the carrot of laughter and the carrot of adventure and a whole bunch more.
You weren’t born with blinders on. The poor horse only sees one carrot in his pursuit. You can look around. You can find more carrots. Pursue as many paths as you want. The line from birth to death should not look like a straight line. It should look like a plate of spaghetti. Enjoy your life. There is no failure. There is only bunches and bunches of carrots for you to enjoy. Bon Appetit!
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
August 9th, 2010
Keep saying carrots, carrots, carrots and surround yourself with pictures of carrots and paint every room in your house carrot orange but actually plant watermelons and guess what? You’re going to harvest watermelons!!
No matter what you are saying or wishing for, what you are DOING is what gives you the results. You can want all to be well in your life but if you constantly entertain thoughts of doom and gloom, that’s what you are planting. You can want your children to abide by higher standards but if you do not, that’s what you are planting. You can want to boldly go into the future but if you are stuck in the past, that’s what you are planting.
Every moment of your life you are harvesting what you have planted and planting the new seeds that you are creating. Take a long, honest look at where you are in several areas of your life. Do you like the harvest? If you do, keep planting the same seeds but if you don’t like the harvest, get some new seeds. They won’t sprout right away. Don’t be discouraged if nothing changes for a little while. You’ll still be harvesting the old plantings. Have discipline, faith and patience and keep planting the new seeds and soon what you want and what you harvest will be identical.