May 14th, 2012
How big is your life? You know the size of your room and your height and your waist but what is the size of your life? Is it a big life, one growing with ideas and openness to whatever comes or is it a small life, concerned with surviving and stepping around obstacles and praying nothing bad befalls you?
A big life has very little to do with work and chores and obligations. You can have a small life and still be run ragged with a million things to do. A big life is a life that is filled with trust and faith. It is a life that says “Oh Dear God, I dislike what is happening but I know it is all for the best and I trust you.” It is a life that says ” I am going to make a positive difference in the short time I am alive.”
A small life says “Oh Dear God, please don’t let any problems, health issues or financial or relationship issues negatively affect me or anyone I care about.” It is a life that wants a story book existence (forgetting of course that all story books are about problems that have to be overcome!) so that there will be no need for sleepless nights or soul searching. It is a life that says “I don’t want to give up any of my pleasures but I want the results as if I did.”
Live large! Whatever comes your way, without exception, is helping you to grow. No matter how big your problems, realize that in your pain is an alarm clock. You are being awakened. You are being taken from your slumber and told to remember your dreams and to start making them a reality.
When you decide to live large, you will become a bigger target for fools and problems but the bigger you live, the smaller those things will seem. You are not here to be stopped by your problems but to grow bigger because you encountered them and to step over them and keep going. Whatever problems there are in your life, know that you are as big as you think you are. Think positive, powerful, big thoughts! It’s who you really are.
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
May 7th, 2012
Loss. It hangs over our heads like the sword of Damocles. We fear the loss of our life, our friends, loved ones, control, possessions, health, wealth, sanity, love. Come right down to it, we fear loss of any kind. What can we do about it?
Fear of loss is actually a two fold fear. We fear change and we fear our inability to deal with that change. In other words, we don’t think we can handle it. When faced with a thought, a doubt about our own strength during a loss, we search ourselves for the strength to deal with it and it’s not there! Our suspicions are confirmed. We firmly believe at that point that we don’t have the strength to deal with loss and we panic. It’s a lie.
Oh, it’s not a “I didn’t eat the last cookie” type of lie. It is a lie of misunderstanding. If we thought in the summer about how we would handle a winter chill and we looked down and saw ourselves in shorts and flip flops and we freaked because dressed like this we would freeze to death, it would be absurd because when the cold weather comes, we will change. We will do whatever is appropriate to the situation.
When loss of any kind happens to us, we too will change. We will be given the strength to deal with it. We will be given the friends, old or new, to help. We will be given the insight about what to do and when to do it. One of the immutable laws of life is that whatever we truly need will always be given to us when we need it and not one second before. Faith in a Higher Power is not necessary but it does make this so much easier to accept.
When fear of loss pops up in our thoughts, rather than freaking out, it is much wiser and much more empowering to say. “Oh, you again. I’ll be ready for you when and if the time comes. Until then, shut up!” And then go ahead a think a better thought.
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
April 30th, 2012
How do we feel better when we are not feeling good? The key is inside of you. No, not your heart and lungs and pancreas! It is inside the way you think. The key is to utilize your imagination, that nuclear reactor of stored energy. That same energy that constructed Disney World and Rome and Build-a-Bears. Seriously, I know first hand that if you are not feeling good, the world looks awfully gray and uninviting but imagination, your imagination can change that at any time and any place .
When things seem dark and neither candle nor match can be found, imagine you found them. Imagine, just for a moment, any improvement in any area of your life. It doesn’t have to be real or even possible but go ahead and attempt to see anything in your life as different, as better. I know it’s not easy but all we are looking for is to poke one tiny little pinhole in the dark box we are in when we don’t feel good. That one tiny little hole can bring light to where we are and can also let us see that there is light outside the box. It can be life changing.
When we want our life to change the biggest mistake is expecting that it can all totally change at the same time. Start small. Start infinitesimally small. You can build on that. Flex your pinky finger. It’s working! Feel your earlobe. It doesn’t hurt! Hooray! How’s that eyebrow feel?
When a big ship wants to tie up at the dock, they don’t even try to throw the big rope onto the dock. It would be impossible. They throw a small rope that’s connected to a bigger rope that’s connected to an even bigger rope that is connected to the great big rope that will tie the ship to the dock. Imagine something small that feels good and keep focusing on it. Imagining one small bit of light will get you to places that focusing on a giant amount of darkness never will. Go small and be happy! You can do it if you try.
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
April 23rd, 2012
The moment you were born no one held you up and yelled “This child is incomplete! Quick, find another child to make this one complete!” It didn’t happen like that because it wasn’t the truth. You were born into this world complete. You didn’t need any one to complete you. You still are complete but you have forgotten.
On a heart and soul level you are connected to all of life and nothing is lacking. On a physical and emotional level you have a desire to bond with others but is a desire and not a necessity. There are times when you really need to be alone and you should. The problem is that we have terribly confused aloneness and loneliness.
Loneliness is the feeling that we are somehow incomplete without the presence of someone else. Aloneness simply means that there is no one else physically around at the moment. Aloneness can be remedied by reaching out to any one of the seven billion people on this planet. Loneliness can only be remedied by understanding that you are perfect just the way you are.
You are complete and whole. You are one flower in an endless field of flowers. Your leaves and blossoms may not touch another flower until the wind blows just right but you are always touching and connected through your roots to every other flower in the field.
If there is someone in your life, they don’t complete you. They join you as divine company on the journey. If there is no one in your life right now it does not mean that you are incomplete. It just means that you have some space to grow and blossom before the wind blows just right.
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
April 16th, 2012
Mostly Sunny With A Chance of Showers
Imagine waking up in the morning and planning your day, you listen to the weather and the forecast is “Today will be mostly sunny with a chance of showers”, what would you do? Would you write the day off? Would you refuse to go outside for fear of being soaked? Would you tie down all the patio furniture?
Of course not! If you made any adjustment at all, maybe you would change your jacket or grab an umbrella. You, like everyone else, would feel pretty good at the prospect of sunshine. If you had a chance to eat al fresco at a cute little lunch place, you’d probably go for it especially if the sky looked clear. You would keep an eye on the sky and be ready to adapt if clouds came but you would enjoy the sunshine for as long as you could.
Every lifetime is sunny with a chance of showers. Oh, make no mistake about it, the rain will come on occasion and sometimes it will be a great big gully washer but the sunny days will always outnumber the rainy ones. The stormy days will be worth experiencing for one reason or another and of course the sunny days will be great to experience. The only days that you want to stay away from are the days that you don’t enjoy because you are waiting for a storm and it doesn’t show up. Those are the wasted days and you really don’t want too many of those. Better to be caught in the rain than to miss the sunshine.
March 19th, 2012
Everyone is always telling you to follow your dream, don’t give up on your dream, make your dream happen, plan the path to your dream. But…what if you don’t have a dream?
What if you just want to survive without pain and without creditors calling and you just want people to like you? Well, THAT’s your dream! Dreams do not have to be writing the great American novel or becoming a world class cello player or becoming a famous sports figure. Those dreams are fine but there is no hierarchy of dreams. One dream is not better than another dream. Dreams aren’t better just because they are bigger or more complex.
Your dream of someone to love you or your dream of sitting by a pool reading a good book or making a tasty dinner are GREAT dreams! None of us are in dream competition. What small thing would you like to accomplish? Eating spaghetti without getting any sauce on your clothes? A great dream! Make spaghetti as often as you can stand it and eat it as carefully as you can and when that day comes that you take the last bite and your clothes are still clean, pat yourself on the back and think up a new dream.
Yes, our nation had a dream about going to the moon and it was a very big dream but that big dream was made up of countless, small, doable dreams. Someone had the dream of a helmet and someone else had a dream of creating a great latch for the door and on and on.
Don’t wait for a gigantic dream. Don’t despair or think that somehow you are deficient because you don’t have a great big dream. Follow every small curiosity. Follow every hunch. Follow every interesting idea. Those are all dreams calling to you. Try everything you want to try and someday people will look back on your life and say ” Wow! That person was really happy!”.
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
February 20th, 2012
“Oh sure”, you say,”I’m never going through that stuff again. Nobody is ever going to do that to me again. I’ve changed”. And then surer than a daily sunrise, somebody does”it” to you again. Why? Because you really haven’t changed. Oh, you got a bit more experience under your belt but you are still you. You haven’t really changed.
If you dress up like a lumberjack, people are going to treat you like a lumberjack. If you change the part in your hair and dress up like a lumberjack people are still going to treat you like a lumberjack because you’ve only made a small change. If you really want to change, you’ve got to make GREAT changes and if you want to make GREAT changes, you have to make GREAT changes in the way you talk to yourself.
You can’t criticize and whip your self all day everyday and then complain that there is no joy in your life, that you are stuck.
Self esteem problem? NO!
Self confidence problem? NO!
Self talk problem? YES!!!!
Starting right now, make a commitment that you will no longer linger on any thought that is critical of your looks, capabilities, income, past or relationships. Starting right now, make a commitment to accept and be kind to yourself in every bit of self talk and to start envisioning a brighter tomorrow in every way.
Starting right now, tell yourself that you are heading to the top of the mountain and you’re not packing anything negative for the trip. Talk to yourself repeatedly about how blessed and wonderful you are and you’ll be surprised at how fast you get to the top. You can do it!
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
February 6th, 2012
When you get a chance, take a look at a picture of yourself, the less flattering the better. The first feeling is recognition (yep, that’s me) and then very quickly you become the critic (OMG look at the way I …). Stop!
Do you have any idea of all the person in that picture has been through? Do you have any idea how hard the struggle has been? Do you know how very hard that person is working to make a better life? Do you know that the person in that picture just wants a chance to do good, to help others and to be remembered as someone who really cared, to love and be loved? Don’t you think that the person in the picture in front of you deserves a break from your criticism? Of course you do.
If a fighter punched himself repeatedly for days before he got into the ring, what chance would he have at winning? None. The world is not difficult. Making money is not difficult. Having a loving relationship is not difficult. Having the strength or energy to do any of that after beating up on yourself repeatedly is very difficult.
Everything you want in life starts with how you treat you. If you think you can do something, it’s done. If you think that you deserve more, you’ll get it. If you like and love yourself, your world will reflect exactly that.
It’s time to love you. It’s time to look at that picture of you and declare once and for all “I’m going to take care of you! I’m going to support you! I’m going to help you, build you up, be your biggest cheerleader”. It’s time to change and the biggest and most important change is to begin talking better to yourself. You can do it and you definitely deserve it after all you’ve been through. Right?
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
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
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