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.
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 9th, 2012
I drove all night to get to the cabin before dawn so that I could get a couple of hours of sleep there before the climb started. I was the last one up in the morning and I walked out to the living room to greet the others. They were watching the stock market on one TV and the world news on the other. As they packed their gear, they kept a running commentary on what was being reported.
I grabbed a cup of tea and I asked “What’s the weather going to be like today?” They looked to each other and then back to me and most shrugged their shoulders and a couple just stared. No one knew.
Every one of them knew what the stock market was doing and what was going on in the world but not one could tell what was going to personally affect us that day. One guy inched over and changed the channel to the weather station and everyone turned to stare.
We spend so much time trying to learn things and so little time on discernment of what we are learning. I knew a fellow once who knew everything there was to know about whales but didn’t know his own son was an addict.
Ask yourself “What am I learning?” And then ask yourself “What means the most to me?” If there is a similar answer to both questions, you are doing fine. But if you’re learning about the latest movies or gossip and your success means the most to you, there’s some adjusting to be done. Are you learning about what means the most to you?
There is a plethora of info out there. Some of it can help you to be more loving, more successful, more knowledgeable, more aware and a lot of it can waste your time, your life. Ask yourself, every now and then “Is what I am doing and thinking right now adding to my growth, my dreams, my goals or am I just staring at shiny objects?”
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
December 19th, 2011
You could read all the right books, get enough sleep, meditate, pray, exercise and eat right and still be short changed on what life could possibly give you. It is all because you are missing the most important thing of all. You could be conscious, present and grateful and still feel like “That’s it?”. On the other hand, you could actually do very little in the way of study or self improvement but if you have the one crucial thing, it really wouldn’t matter. Life would be still be a constant joy.
It doesn’t matter what troubles lay in front of you or even right on top of you. It doesn’t matter where or how you live. It does matter however if you have ENTHUSIASM!
The person with enthusiasm doesn’t search for the light. The person with enthusiasm generates light. The person with enthusiasm doesn’t duck “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” for they know that their enthusiasm, their zest for life is their armor.
Enthusiasm is the precursor to every good thing you desire. Without it, life is a grey struggle. With it, life is a rainbow with a promise of pots of gold.
If you open the front door and go to step outside and suddenly realize you are not prepared to deal with the weather, you go no further. You go back and dress properly. Take a moment before you embark on your day or your project or your work and ask yourself, “Is my enthusiasm valve open wide, barely open or closed?” If it is not open wide, go no further! Stop and tell yourself that “My enthusiasm comes from my intent and my intent is to honor the gift of my life with constant enthusiasm”. No venture or life can be successful without it. Open that valve!
(C) 2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
November 14th, 2011
How do you get bigger? Oh, I’m not talking about protein shakes and killer workouts or about standing at the end of the assembly line at a Krispy Kreme store. I’m talking about how do you grow you? The you that you really want to be? First, realize your value.
You are unique. That does not mean that you are strange or weird. A rare gold coin is unique because we give it great value. It’s not weird or strange. A melted piece of plastic is weird or strange and we give it no value. We misinterpret the inner part of us. We think it is weird and we give it no value. It is time to set the record straight. The inner part of you is unique and priceless. Your spirit is more valuable than anything in creation. It is who you are! You are priceless. Stop making the soul part of you the littlest part. Let your spirit shout! Let if fill up every part of you. Stop looking for strength. Generate it! Respond, act and work from a soul level. It will change your life.
Real growth starts with saying No. Say no to any one who makes you feel bad on any level. Say No to things that no longer serve your highest aspirations. Say No to the things you have been putting up with, the things that stifle your dreams and creativity. Shrink your worries and grow your spirit. Clear the garden of weeds so you can grow what you really want. It’s time to get bigger. It’s time to take that dream part of you and make it bigger. Let it fill up all that you are. Allow your spirit to grow. Every morning when you wake up, if you don’t feel bigger, stay in bed until you do. If you lay there and you feel small or burdened or worried, fill yourself with love, fill yourself with gratitude, fill yourself with hope and then start your day. If you feel yourself getting small at any time during the day, refill yourself with those same treasures. When we are talking about your dreams, your life, your love, your strength, your spirit, bigger is very, very good.
(C) 2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
September 13th, 2010
We know how to celebrate the holidays. We know what presents or decorations are appropriate. But how about all of the other days? How do we celebrate them? Shouldn’t every day that we wake up be a celebration? Oh, but how can I celebrate a job I don’t like? You don’t. You celebrate the ability to have a job, the ability to consider a better job, the good that you can do there, the difference that you can make in even one person’s life by being there. Oh, but how do I celebrate my aches and pains? You don’t.You celebrate the mental clarity to know your pain and what makes it better or worse. You celebrate the parts that work well and that are not adding to your pain. Oh, but how do I celebrate a relationship that is the pits? You don’t. You celebrate the ability to have the greatest relationship ever and that’s the one with you and your Creator. Oh, but how do I celebrate my debts. You don’t. You celebrate all of the money that has flowed through your hands in the past and the very real possibility of more in the future. Oh, but how do I celebrate my loss? You don’t. You celebrate what you had and you celebrate what you learned. Oh, but how do I celebrate just a regular day. You don’t. Because there is no such thing.
©2010 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride www.PatrickInspires.com
July 5th, 2010
There is a freedom that you should know about. It’s a freedom that you were never taught and you won’t see it emblazoned on any Fourth of July floats but it can open the door to your happiness.
This freedom is freedom from conflict. No, not wars and such but freedom from conflict in your house, in your family, in your workplace. Conflict is nothing but a game of Tug O’ War. That’s right, you pull in one direction as hard as you can and someone else does the same in an opposite direction. You wear yourself out and you accomplish nothing, nada, zilch.
Here’s the good part.You have the freedom to drop the rope. You have the freedom to be free of conflict. It doesn’t matter one iota how the other person reacts. You are not the loser because you dropped the rope so don’t act like one. You have gained mastery over the situation. You are free! You get to choose happiness for yourself right now. You get to say that your personal happiness is more important than any conflict. All these little dramas are what stand in the way of you realizing your happiness and blessings. Get rid of them! You have the ability, the freedom to choose. Only when you drop the rope of conflict are your hands open to receive more blessings. Smile and be happy now.
©2010 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
March 29th, 2010
Every gardener and farmer knows that you can’t harvest something new if you haven’t planted something new. Are you tired of struggling? Are you tired of being tired? If there is anything in your life that you want to change you must identify it clearly, state your intention to change it and take action. When you truly want to change all or part of your life, the most important action that you can take is to change your self-talk.
Every morning we wake up and we start planting seeds with every word and picture we think. If they are the same old words and pictures, we are going to have exactly the same old harvest! If we want to harvest something new, we must plant something new. We must use different words, imagine different pictures and then we will harvest the bounty from those new seeds.
You absolutely can change what you are getting and all you have to do is to change what you are planting. You can do it!
©2010 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
March 22nd, 2010
Every one of us is looking for that secret additive, that one thing that if we add it to our life, our life breaks out in joy and possibilities that would rival the finale of any fireworks show on July fourth.We read books, listen to CDs, watch videos, attend seminars, quiz those who we think have found it and we plod onward, becoming more and more serious and a bit frustrated too until one day, by the Grace of God, there it is and our life lights up. It usually shows up in a quote but it can also come as a flash of inspiration. However it comes, you know without a doubt that EVERYTHING is now possible. Your dreams, your plans, your goals, suddenly you know that you can make them happen. What is this secret ingredient?
Ralph Waldo Emerson pointed it out when he wrote “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” Walter Chrysler said “The real secret of success is enthusiasm”. Oliver Wendell Holmes made it clear “It’s faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth living”. There’s your secret additive!
We believe that we will have enthusiasm when we find something to be joyful about. Of course we will but if we don’t have it long before that we will never get to joyful! Look at those places in your life that have stagnated. Is there enthusiasm anywhere to be found in those places? Of course not that’s why they stagnated.
You don’t have to go out and find enthusiasm. You are the sole creator of your enthusiasm. If it is lacking it’s only because you are not producing it. Henry Ford stated it perfectly. “You can do anything if you have enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes rise to the stars. With it, there is accomplishments. Without it there are only alibis.” The secret additive is sustained enthusiasm under any and all circumstances. BOOM! There go the fireworks!
©2010 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com