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
October 17th, 2011
If your toaster wasn’t working this morning would you go to the power generating plant in your city and start looking for what was wrong? Would you start cursing the power plant for your lack of toast? It seems preposterous but that is exactly what we do when our lives lack the “electricity” to make us feel good, to manifest the things we desire, to make things go in our favor, to be happy. Where does the “electricity” come from? Most will say God and I agree but if God is unlimited in “electricity” and we are lacking, where’s the disconnect? Where is the wiring to our toaster broken?
Grace or God’s “electricity” is flowing all the time. When we feel it, we feel invincible and unlimited. We are in the flow and everything seems possible. We greet others with a smile. We counsel others not to feel down. We encourage every new attempt that is being made. We overlook petty annoyances. We look favorably upon our past and our future. We see the good everywhere. We see positive outcomes to everything.
So, if we want the “electricity” and God is always showering us with the “electricity” where’s the disconnect? Why isn’t our toaster working? The answer is in the second sentence of the second paragraph above. The secret is that we have to feel it! Our toaster isn’t working because it’s not turned on!! Your job isn’t to generate the “electricity”. You job is to put yourself in the proper frame of mind to accept and feel the “electricity”. And the most amazing, gratitude inducing fact is that there is an unlimited amount of “electricity” and we have an infinite capacity for using it. All we have to do is stay turned on to life.
Take literally 15 seconds right now and close your eyes and become aware of your breath and imagine being filled with God’s “electricity” right this moment. This one moment will change your day.
(C) 2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
September 19th, 2011
A rosebud is a beautiful creation. It suddenly appears all tightly wrapped and we look at its beauty which is part rosebud and also the promise of the rose. We check day after day awaiting its arrival and if it just stays a bud, we lose interest and check only once in a while and then rarely. But no matter how long the rosebud has stayed in that state and no matter how disinterested we became, when it starts to bloom, it is day one all over again. We watch and our joy and our expectation shoots to high levels once again. We are enraptured. We tell ourselves that we always knew it was going to be a great one and we enjoy.
We are all born like the rosebud. People look at us with joy and they wait patiently for our blossoming. Years go by and soon even our most diehard fans may lose interest. But dreams like rosebuds don’t die, they wait. Sometimes the wait is long but sooner or later there is a stirring and the blossoming begins. Life, like the rose follows a heavenly clock. The time of blooming for both flower and person is set by the maker of the clock and all of nature follows.
As you walk or drive the streets today you will see buds and you will see flowers. As you look in the mirror tonight you will see part bud and part flower. Rejoice! You are in the process of blooming. It doesn’t matter how long it took or when it started. Look at yourself from now on with great expectation. Look at yourself and know that your time has come. The rose needs neither permission nor applause to blossom and neither do you. Go ahead and give energy to that stirring within you. Soon, everyone will say that they knew you were going to be great. Smile and enjoy.
(C) 2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
July 19th, 2010
We crave stimulation. Good, bad or indifferent, it doesn’t matter as long as it’s stimulating. If we can get emotional about something terrible in our past then bring it on. Anything is better than feeling bored. Sure we want to feel happy but if it’s not here right now we will find something that we can feel right now. We want to FEEL SOMETHING. To the non discriminating person, any feeling will do.
When we were very young the NOs were a lot more stimulating then the Yeses. The Nos made us get upset and even cry but , by God, we were alive and learning. Now all these years and learning later, we still gravitate to the Nos. They are still very powerful but it doesn’t have to be like that any more for you. Starting right now make a commitment to focus on the Yeses. Focus on what is going right. Focus on the blessings. Look ahead and not backwards. Find your strength and stimulation in love, gratitude and positivity. Let helping others be your stimulation too. Look in the mirror and see yourself as God sees you, wanting the best for you, wanting you to feel loved and happy. Let this be the day that started you on the YES path. Say YES to life and to unlimited possibilities. A smile and a YES and you are on your way. You can do it. Right? YES!
©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