June 16th, 2014
Those moments of darkness that seem endless and unrelenting can steal the will to live from anyone. Hope is that life preserver that Heaven sends to you when you feel like giving up and just sinking under the waves. What exactly is this life preserver that we call hope?
Hope is a bridge between where you don’t want to be and where you do want to be. No one lives on a bridge and no one can live forever on hope. When hope comes to you realize that you have been given a priceless gift. Realize too that this gift asks something of you in return.
Cling to hope, embrace hope, give thanks for hope for it is a gift like no other but know that hope wants you to to swim to faith. Faith is that conviction that all really is going according to plan and that EVERYTHING that happens is directed by a greater power. Faith is the place where you can live and rest and grow and not just tread water.
If you feel like you are over your head in pain or problems or broken promises, find hope. Hope is waiting for you in the thoughts of long shot winners and miracles and sudden cures. Swim with that hope until you find faith. You will know you have found it when your problems seem lighter and a different perspective seems to suddenly appear.
Hope first changes your thinking and then it changes your world.
(c)2014 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
Facebook – Sundrops On Life
April 29th, 2013
(Got problems?)
If a problem persists in your life, then at some point you must come to realize that in order to find the solution you have to change where you have been looking. The solution you seek is not going to come out of some notebook of past solutions that you have been keeping. The new solution is going to be found by going down different paths and entertaining new ideas and yes, getting a little scared in the process. It’s called growing.
As we get older, our bag of solutions, if not continually updated, gets ineffective and so we resign ourselves to having problems that have no solutions. Nothing could be further from the truth. THERE IS NO PROBLEM IN THE UNIVERSE WITHOUT A CORRESPONDING SOLUTION!
From this day forward, stop focusing on problems and start becoming solution oriented. Stop using your energy to strengthen your problems! Stop fighting against life and start working with it. Stop being against so many things and start being for what you want. You don’t have problems to fix, you have solutions to strengthen. Stop cursing the night and start celebrating the coming dawn.
Any problem, whether it be spiritual, physical, emotional or mental is just another opportunity to grow. Do you have a problem with health, relationships or money? Don’t fight it and don’t give up. Solve it. Maybe you haven’t been able to find the solution looking in all the old places well, guess what? It’s time to search some new places. What if you don’t have any support? Explore anyway. You are responsible for you. Find your own answers and embrace them. It’s scary and wonderful and exciting and amazing and best of all – you can do it!
(c)2013 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
April 15th, 2013
(You have a voice!)
“What’s wrong?” The answer to this question will change your life. Maybe.
When you are asked; “What’s wrong?” your typical first response is: “Nothing.” Why do you have this quick, patented answer? Is it because you believe that your “stuff” isn’t important. Is it because you believe that you already know the response and where it will lead? Or maybe because you don’t want to rock the boat? Or do you believe that the other person can beat you or belittle you with the volume of their voice or their command of semantics or debate?
Whatever the reason for saying “Nothing” it is a lie if you truly feel something is wrong and lying always diminishes your self worth. It takes guts to tell the truth. It takes guts to not sugar coat your response. It takes guts not to preface your answer with cowering phrases like “You probably won’t agree but…” or “I might be totally wrong but…” or ” I might just be crazy but I…” or “You’ll probably get mad if I say this but…” and all the variations.
Speak up anyway! If you feel something is wrong, speak up! If you feel you have been abused, speak up! If you feel someone has treated you badly, speak up! If you feel that you are being cheated, lessened, cheated on, demeaned, ridiculed, belittled or hurt, speak up!
It is very important to remember that as you speak up you get the courage to continue. Great courage never comes before you speak. When you speak up you are righting a wrong. When you speak up you are honoring your own personal integrity. When you speak up the feces may come in direct contact with the oscillating blades but you will have stood toe to toe with your biggest fears and said “Get out of my way. I’ve got something to say!”and a bigger, better you is born.
(c)2013 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
April 8th, 2013
(You are strong!)
There comes times in life when giving up seems not only a great relief but the best possible choice. Suddenly, giving up on a dream or a relationship that you once held tightly seems the only way. For days and sometimes years later you continue to play “what if” games with yourself concerning your decision. Giving up always involves some level of regret, longing, in other words, attachment.
When you take a step to walk towards something you want, you don’t give up on where you are. You see what you want to be, do or have and you move towards it. Simple, right? Since you learned to take your first steps, you have enjoyed the ability to move towards what you want. Even if you fell down, you got back up and kept moving towards what you wanted.
From today onwards, there’s no more giving up. Banish that phrase from your vocabulary. There is only moving forward towards what you really want. If where you are in a job or a relationship or a state of health is unacceptable, start stepping towards your dream, your joy, what you really want. Don’t settle!
You don’t give up on the beach to go into the ocean for a swim. You just move towards what you want. You don’t give up on addiction. You move to healthier choices. You don’t give up on toxic people. You move towards better people. You don’t give up on a bad job. You move towards a good one. You don’t give up on improving you. You move towards being kind to you.
Giving up keeps you attached to the way it was. Moving forward makes you free. Take a step!
(c)2013 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
April 1st, 2013
(Do it Beautifully!)
This morning I watched our dog, Jasper, run around the yard and I thought to myself that he runs beautifully. The thought struck me that we refer to certain people as being beautiful but how about what people DO? We can watch a person dance or cook or paint and say to ourselves that they are doing it beautifully but what about the man that pushes the shopping carts in the parking lot? He’s done it a thousand times and he knows how many carts act this way or that. Or how about the nurse that switches the IV bag without waking the patient.
There are actions being done beautifully all around us all the time. We are even contributing some of that beautifulness ourselves. Things being done beautifully aren’t just those practiced actions being done on stage and in classes and on film. Everyday actions are being done beautifully everywhere.
We don’t see the beautiful because we are not looking for what’s right, what’s working, what doesn’t need fixing. We have been raised as problem solvers and we get rewarded for solving problems and so we are always looking for problems to fix. If someone is doing something beautifully and right, we pass right over it to find the person who is doing it wrong so that we can present our solution and be rewarded with a pat on the back or a knowing smile.
Today, watch people uncritically, without judgement. Watch the way they walk or work or maybe the way they bag your groceries or the way they drive. Some of these things are being done beautifully. Much more than you have imagined.
(c)2013 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
January 21st, 2013
(Been Rejected Yet?)
Has someone ever not liked you? Has a friend turned out to be not a friend? Were you picked last for something? Did someone ever turn you down, break up with you, lie about you, lie to you? Of course they did! It’s called rejection and it hurts. It hurts very badly. What can you do???
First, cry. That’s right. Whether you are man, women or child, crying is a release that is like no other. It is so necessary that I dare say that no healing can take place without it. Once you’ve cried and cried, it’s time to stop crying and open your eyes. It’s time to force yourself to get up, shower, dress your best and take a deep breath and say ” I am stronger than this” and mean it!
You will get through this. It’s not going to happen overnight. It will still hurt long after you don’t want it to hurt. It will leave a scar. That scar will be sensitive. That scar is a battle scar. That scar says you were hurt, the bleeding is over, you healed and you’ve got the proof.
No one goes to their grave without scars but if they do, they would be the ones who placated everyone. They would be the ones who never stood up for themselves. They would be the ones who got walked on, the doormats that justified their existence by saying they were keeping the peace. The ones who silenced their own voice.
That’s not who you are. You are the one that got slapped by life, spit out the blood, cried and grew stronger. You are the one that grew in compassion because you know how it feels. You are the one that said “Things are going to change and I can do it and if it happens again, I’ll get through that too” Well done.
(c)2013 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
January 14th, 2013
Pom-Poms Anyone?
Each of us is greatly influenced by support. Positive reinforcement works very well for people and animals of all species. Every child shapes his or her future by what they are praised for and what they are chastised for day in and day out. Dogs become house trained not by their own initiative but by what they are rewarded for with praise or treats. Every path in life is easier with support and praise. But what if there is no support or praise on our chosen path? What then?
Each of us has two choices when support is absent. We can pick up the whip and drive ourselves mercilessly or we can pick up the pom-poms and be our own cheerleader. Both are called motivation but only one will bring peace and joy into our lives. The whip is the symbol of criticism and a Machiavellian focus on the destination. The pom-pom is a symbol of support and joy and a focus on the journey.
Years ago, up in Maine, I watched a tractor pulling contest. Team after team of oxen were yelled at by big burly drivers and with whips cracking over their heads, the oxen pulled those sleds. I, along with everyone else there, was astonished to see a slight woman come with her team and just by talking approvingly to her team, win the contest.
We are no different than those oxen. We will respond and pull our load through life no matter what but who drives us will determine whether this is a beautiful journey or a drudge. There are two drivers inside each of us. Which driver we choose will affect our life and influence the lives of our children and everyone we love. Choose wisely.
(c)2013 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
December 10th, 2012
(You are in Charge!)
If you were sitting at your computer and screen after screen of violins popped up, you could deduce with nearly 100% accuracy that you were doing it. If you were sitting alone in your car and the radio stations started to change to different ones you had preset, it would be a pretty good bet that you had something to do with it.
When you feel angry, unloved, upset or put upon, guess what? You are doing it. It may be by default. It maybe because you’ve got a damn good reason for feeling like that but no matter how good the reason, it’s your hand on the buttons. People can’t push our buttons, contrary to popular belief. People act a certain way and WE push the response button that we believe is justified. Sometimes (most times) there is little or no thought given to our response. We’ve learned that a certain reaction serves us well and it goes on auto pilot.
There is a secret to changing all of this. There is a secret to getting control of your emotions. The secret to responding not in a way you always have, not in a way that puts the other person in their place but in a way that best serves you each and every time is… THE POWER OF PAUSE AND CHOOSE.
When we were kids we were told to count to ten before we emotionally exploded. That was some of the best advice ever! It was the perfect P&C formula and guess what? It worked. Somewhere along the line we decided that if we paused, the other person had a chance to jump in and take control of the conversation so we kept talking and reacting. We became mere robots with pre programmed responses.
Do want to live your life as a free person? Do you want to be in charge of how you feel under any and all circumstances? Then start practicing P&C today. Pause and let your heart catch up with your mind and Choose the response that best serves you. Pause and give infinite intelligence a chance to speak through you. Choose your words and actions not out of anger or hurt but out of love and respect for yourself. It’s a whole new feeling and a very, very good one.
(c)2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
December 3rd, 2012
(You are Resilient!)
Do you want a perfect world? Do you want a world free of suffering and strife? Do you want a world where everyone in every country holds hands and sings a really cool song? Sorry, wrong planet.
Let’s get real for a moment. Our world is filled with every imaginable and unimaginable person, place and thing. It is the greatest amusement park, museum, movie, sitcom, documentary, boxing ring and concert. It has cancer and it has warm, fresh bedsheets. It has great love and great loss. It has a plethora of both laughter and tears. It has it all, the good, the bad and certainly the ugly. So where, if anywhere, is perfection?
Perfection lies not in this world but in your judgement of this world of ours. EVERYTHING on this planet has its place and its reason for existence. Is it perfect? Yes it is, in a way. It’s perfect if you love kaleidoscopes, and changing seasons and sunrises and sunsets. It’s perfect if you can love change. You don’t have to love polliwogs and warthogs. You just have to love change.
There is a part of the day that you love but you would soon tire of it if there was no other time of the day. It changes and that’s perfect. There are puppies that are not house trained. It changes and that’s perfect. There are things you don’t understand and then you get older and you understand. It changes and that’s perfect. You criticize yourself and the world and then comes the day when you accept both just the way they are. It changes and that’s perfect.
Like the weather, if you don’t like the way the world is, stick around and it will change whether you want it to or not. Life is not about stagnation. Endless bliss or perfection would be stagnation. Life is about being alive and surprised and challenged. Life is about experiencing and growing. Life is a series of wonderful, horrible, marvelous changes. Embrace that and life is an amazing adventure.
When you were born, a voice whispered in your ear. “Welcome to this planet. Your changes will arrive shortly. Enjoy your stay.” Perfect!
(c)2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
November 26th, 2012
(You are Rich!)
Are you walking past diamonds to get to the gold? We all have the same desires. We want to be moving towards happiness and we want to be moving far away from suffering of any kind. This is what we have in common. What we don’t have in common is how we see our present circumstances. It’s time to take inventory.
When you take inventory it is very important to focus on what you have and not what you have as compared to what other people have. First, you have to take a physical inventory. What’s working? Do not ask what isn’t working or what isn’t working as good as it used to because that will involve drama and drama always skews the results. Second, you have to take a love inventory. Who loves you and who has loved you in the past? Third, you have to take a worth inventory. What is your self worth? This is never to be confused with your net worth or again the results will be terribly skewed. Fourth, you have to take a service inventory. How have you been serving this world? Who have you helped?
Once you’ve taken a complete inventory, how does it look? Are there parts of your body working fairly well? Have you been loved by a relative, friend or teacher? Are you capable of improving yourself? Are there people who have been helped by your words, action or example? If you can answer yes to any of these questions then these are the diamonds in your life, the priceless kind. Are you looking for more of these or are you ignoring them while looking for stability, security and permanence. Those are merely the gold, important but nowhere near the worth of diamonds.
Know how wealthy you are in what really matters. Life, Love, possibilities and opportunity are the diamonds in your life. You are rich. Walk with your head high and your heart filled with gratitude and every time something brings you down, take out those diamonds and look at them. Like you, they are priceless.
(c)2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com