Dance

March 16th, 2017

You don’t fall in love with the person. You fall in love with the spirit inside that person. That’s why as people get older and go through so many physical changes, the love still grows. You don’t fall in love with a pet, you fall in love with the spirit inside that pet. You don’t fall in love with a flower or a bird or a place. You fall in love with the spirit that is inside each of those. 

On the outside, everything and everyone is wearing some kind of costume. Some attract and some repel. It’s all part of a enormous masquerade. The music of life plays and we all dance. 

The costumes are ever changing. If it were not for the costumes we would hardly notice any differences. We would smile and nod and love. But throw a costume on every spirit and we can act outraged or amazed or any one of an infinite number of responses. 

When you truly love something or someone you love their spirit. When you can truly know that you are in love with their spirit you will find that the costume means nothing. And if the costume means nothing for one it means nothing for all. 

Dance with seven billion people costumes. Dance with trillions of tree costumes and bird costumes and rock costumes and fish costumes. Dance with one, Dance with dozens or Dance with them all. Dance until you laugh. Dance until you forget your costume. Dance until you forget theirs.

Today is my birthday and I love you and your costume. Thank you for this dance.  

Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.

 Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
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priceless

February 20th, 2017

Many of us buy a lottery ticket once in a while and daydream about having a great deal of money. For one dollar we get to imagine helping people in more ways than we are capable of doing right now. We get to imagine building and traveling and gifting on an immense scale. For one dollar we are the star and the lead in our own movie.

While dreaming big is a delicious flight of fancy, sometimes we tend to forget the priceless happiness in the smaller things in life. How about thinking about someone you love who has passed and while you are imagining that person, a butterfly comes close and gets your attention – priceless. 

How about the feeling when a small child notices your presence and quickly smiles and with raised arms begs you to pick them up and hug them – priceless. How about that time that you were just absently looking at the night sky and suddenly a shooting star appeared – priceless.

How about the taste of a certain food that only one relative could perfectly create every time – priceless. How about clean sheets, cool pillows, hot showers, clean cool water when you are thirsty, a stunning view after a beautiful climb, a long hug from someone you love, a great night’s sleep, the smell of someone you love, your favorite song, loving on your pet, feeling good without a reason, a great cup of tea, a sweet memory, a laugh that makes you laugh, a soft breeze, the sound of the ocean, the flames of a campfire, your bed after a long day, a smile from a stranger, dancing until you are the music, holding hands, the middle of a great book, a kiss from a child – each one of these and many, many, many, more – priceless.

Yes, it would be a trip to have a large sum of money but let us never forget the small, priceless joys and memories that fill our life. Let us spend more time focusing on what is right, beautiful and priceless in our life. Let us remember to remind each other and to be grateful when we are reminded of the good things in life. They are always, always there.

Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.

 Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
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A plan

February 13th, 2017

We were out feeding the homeless one day and when you are engaged with that part of our community no two days are ever the same because the actions and reactions vary greatly from one person to the next. Anyway, every now and then something is said that is up there with the sayings of the great philosophers. 

For instance, one day I was handing out small bars of hotel soap that had been donated to us and Moses Green, a regular, took the bar with a giant grin and said “Right now I would rather have this than a bar of gold” and I said “Moses, with a bar of gold you could buy a truck full of soap” and he replied “Patrick, where is a dirty, homeless person going to sell a bar of gold? You have to understand that the way you are dressed is the way you are treated”. Priceless

This particular day we were handing out food and a very disheveled gentleman who had been carrying on a passionate conversation with no one in particular, took the food I was offering and after staring silently at me for a few moments and deeming me worthy of his advice, said “Do you know why I am on the street? Why in fact most of us are out here?” and without waiting for my reply he said ” I didn’t have money or a job or any help and that was like having leaks in my boat but the thing that actually sunk my boat was that I didn’t have a plan. A plan is what keeps you going man, gives you hope. A plan can always be altered and improved but you know what? If you ain’t got a plan you got nothing and nothing can’t be altered or improved. If you don’t want to end up nowhere, you gotta have a plan, man!” He turned around and restarted his passionate conversation with no one in particular and walked away.

I never knew his name or saw him again but I thank that philosopher in baggy clothes quite often. Whenever things don’t work out the way I wanted, instead of fretting and complaining, my first inclination thanks to this gentleman, is to ask myself “Okay, this didn’t work out the way I wanted so how do I alter my plan or come up with a new plan?”. 

Whenever I feel adrift or unproductive, instead of analyzing every thought and action and finding fault or laying blame (all the while accomplishing absolutely nothing), I get right to work on my overall plan and alter it if I can or if I can’t, I come up with a new plan as quickly as possible and then with map in hand I can move forward again. Like I heard on East Lancaster, “If you don’t want to end up nowhere, you gotta have a plan, man!”

Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.

 Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
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Relationships

February 6th, 2017

Is this relationship worth it? All throughout our life we are in relationships. We have relationships with people, companies, governments, etc. Today, let’s talk about our people relationships. 

Whether we are in a work, friend or significant other relationship with another person there are constantly millions of dynamics at work. Sometimes they work seamlessly and sometimes they don’t. When they do, it’s a little slice of heaven. When they don’t, the upsets can be catastrophic to your well being on every level. 

If you are going to walk away every time a relationship upsets you, you are going to have an infinite number of very, very short relationships and you will never know the joy of a deep, give and take relationship. However, if you are going to put up with upsets let’s have some rules.

Rule#1- Physical violence or even the threat of physical violence is instant termination, no warning necessary.

Rule#2- Bullying, verbal abuse, outright or in the guise of “I was only joking”, instant termination after one and only one warning.

Rule#3- Being drunk or high is never an excusable reason for treating you badly. Instant termination after one warning unless rule #1 is breached than no warning is due.

Rule#4- You don’t have permission to be a jerk because they are a jerk.

Rule#5- You may be real, real close but you are not them and they are not you.

Rule#6- People change. That includes you.

Rule#7- Sometimes it is nothing in particular. It is just time to move on.

Rule#8- NEVER count on changing someone else! You will never get a cat to bark and trying only frustrates you and pisses off the cat.

Rule#9- When it is really LOVE, you won’t have to talk yourself into it.

 Don’t expect or, heaven’s forbid, demand perfection in a relationship and remember that all relationships should be beneficial to both people. One-sided relationships are awful. If it’s good, enjoy every moment. Who knows, it could last a lifetime. If it’s bad, don’t wait too long to jump overboard. It is never a good idea to go down with the ship.

Review your relations every now and then to make sure that you haven’t gotten too comfortable with less than you deserve. Reviewing also helps to know if you are getting lazy and taking the other person for granted. Ask yourself often “Am I loving and present to my full potential?” and “Is our relationship as good as it can be?” and “How can I be better at this?”.

Relationships are everything you can imagine and so much more. Be realistic about your role and what you want in the other person. Be as loving, caring and supportive as you can be all the time and never, ever, ever expect the cat to bark.  

    

Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.

 Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
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The Play

January 30th, 2017

You go to the theater, get a good seat and wait to be entertained.The movie starts and five minutes into the movie Superman and his arch enemy Lex Luther confront each other and Lex turns to Superman and says;
“How do you like playing the part of Superman?” and Superman turns to Lex and says;

“Not bad really. I thought I would develop this part a little differently but the director said to do it like this and so I’m warming up to the idea that it’s okay.Oh, by the way, how are your kids doing in the new school?”

You sit bolt upright in your theater seat staring incredulously at the screen. You look around to see if everyone else in the theater is as outraged as you. You turn to the person next to you and say; “What is going on? I didn’t pay to see two actors talking reality to each other. I want them to act. Not to be themselves! This is not entertaining!”

If you don’t like this scenario then you are going to love living on planet earth. It’s a place where everyone is playing a part. Of course everyone is the same on the inside but on the outside OMG! What a diversity of characters. 

Of course most people here are so good that they get totally into their parts and seem to actually become their part. After all, “the mask the actor wears soon becomes the actor” is an old maxim and it is very true on this planet. 

It all starts when we are born here and at first we smile quite a bit because we know who we are and we know the truth about everyone else too. Slowly we are taught to identify with our name and our family and our neighborhood, our school, our city, our state, our country, our religion or lack thereof, our socioeconomic level and a host of other features. So we start becoming our mask and not ourselves.

​​​​​​​We never feel quite perfect about who we are but we are sure who other people are. We judge them and ourselves. We try to add more to ourselves as if something was missing as if we would soon become whole if we found the missing pieces. Many of us never understanding that we need less and not more to feel complete. 

 The truth is that we are whole. We are complete. We are eternal. We have passed our audition and come to play a part in the greatest play in the universe. We have a great Director who knows how this develops and how we contribute to it all. We really don’t have to know it all. We just have to concentrate on our part by listening for direction. 

The secret to enjoying all of this is that every now and then when the day is done, we need to relax, let go, remember who we are and smile. We need to step back and watch the play with seven billion cast members and appreciate the Director and have gratitude for our good fortune to be picked to be in this crazy, funny, touching, heartwarming, action packed blockbuster. And above all else we need to always remember…it’s a love story.

Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.

 Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
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Amazing not safe

December 12th, 2016

 As I walked around the cardiac care unit (again!) showing that I was fit enough to leave, I looked into each room as I passed and in every room I saw people who were alive. I don’t mean alive versus dead. I mean people who were very aware that this wasn’t just another day. I didn’t talk to any of them but I was thinking as I walked by that their last New Year’s Eve’s plans for the new year didn’t include this. Mine sure didn’t. And that’s when it hit me!

I didn’t have any plans. Sure I wanted to go camping and hiking and traveling more but mostly and dominantly, after all I have been through, I just wanted nothing bad to happen to my loved ones or myself. I had slipped into survival mode. Now survival mode is a great place to be when survival in questionable but it is NOT a place to just hang out and watch life go by. Firstly, it’s very stressful because when you are in survival mode you are always consciously or unconsciously considering the opposite. Secondly, survival mode is the illusion that if I don’t stick my head up I won’t get shot. In other words, the cosmic entity that doles out hardships won’t be able to see me!

​​​​​​​What a bunch of organic, grass fed manure I was believing! There is no certainty. This is life and life is a mystery. Unless you are in quicksand get out of survival mode. Survival mode is nothing more than a semi comfortable prison with an unlocked door. You keep praying that nothing bad will come in and so you keep hyper focused on that door to the exclusion of everything else life has to offer. That’s not living! Walk out that unlocked door. Engage the world. You are strong enough to handle anything out there. Go for the summit! You’ll never get to see the view from the top of the mountain if you hold up in a cave on the way up.

Yeah, I’m going to make some plans for 2017. You betcha! They are going to be audacious and magnificent and wonderful. Every day I am going to focus on being alive and being dialed into and open to all kinds of new possibilities. I don’t want life to be safe any more. I want it to be a trip again. I’m trading in safe for AMAZING.

How about you?

Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.

 Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
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Now

December 2nd, 2016

Are you going to die soon? Unknown. Are you going to die some day? Yes.

Are you going to die in your own bed in your clean pajamas with the sheets all perfectly placed around you after spending the last days surrounded by family and friends with enough strength and mental clarity to speak to each one and impart some of the wisdom that you gathered in your years here and at the end look into their eyes and tell them what they meant to you and how much you love them? 
Probably not.

The truth is that the vast majority of people die in hospitals oblivious to those around them. Sudden accidents, heart attacks and strokes take a few more. So, aside from being depressing instead of uplifting, what does this mean?

This means that NOW is the most important part of your life. This means that you and I are never assured that we will get to say all the I Love You’s that need to be said if we wait to say them. This means that there are people out there on this same planet that you and I need to go out and meet. They are not going to knock on our doors.This means that there are places on our wish list that still have not felt our footprints. This means that each hug and each smile should never be done without presence and sincerity. This means that you and I have to go into our box of dreams and dust them off and take steps to fulfill some of them NOW. This means that petty squabbles and petty annoyances will die with us and so will all the chances to connect again. This means that being right means nothing if you are being dead. This means that you and I have been holding back, keeping something in the tank for the future and we need to live bigger, better and more consciously NOW. 
Tell the people you love that you love them NOW. Impart the wisdom that you have learned NOW. Look at all of the photographs from years ago and let them fill you with gratitude NOW. Stop fussing about little things NOW. Dare to plan something new NOW. Do some of the things you were meaning to do someday NOW.

Live NOW. Love NOW. Remember what is truly important and always make it a major part of your NOW. Your life happens NOW and only NOW. Make it a great NOW for you and everyone in your life. Now that’s living.

Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.

 Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
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Thanksgiving

November 23rd, 2016

I wrote this in 2011 and I believe that it is a still a great idea. Enjoy!!

I know that there are many of you in many countries all over the world who read these daily Sundrops. Tomorrow in the US is the holiday of Thanksgiving and I would like to propose a new way of celebrating it. A new way in which everyone in the world can participate. Starting tomorrow, let the day be not only a day of thanksgiving and gratitude but from now on let this day be criticism free.

No matter where we live or what beliefs we hold, every year on the fourth Thursday in November, let us all be criticism free for a day. Let us all refuse to criticize anything about this day. We will refuse to criticize how others act just for this day. We will refuse to criticize the weather, the food, the neighbors, any country, any person. We will not criticize what others believe or how they raise their children or what they do with their money or how anyone drives. We will politely listen to others criticize but not add a gram of our own.

Whatever we have will be enough for this one day. Whatever others have or how they got it will be fine for this day. Whatever criticisms we have of governments, corporations, politicians, media, medical fields or even ourselves we will postpone for one day.

Every year let the fourth Thursday of November be a great holiday for each and every one of us. Let us celebrate this holiday by being completely without criticism of any person, place or condition. Let us celebrate what is well and right in this world. We will find that when we let ourselves be entirely devoid of criticism, it will open more room for Gratitude and Thanksgiving and that is guaranteed to make us happy. I wish you a very happy day!

Sundrops on Life – Better Thoughts. Better Days.

 Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
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It’s Today

November 21st, 2016

When you get a new driver’s license what do you do with the old one? Do you keep it in your wallet? Can you imagine never throwing away an expired license and just letting them stack up in your wallet decade after decade?

Of what use would the old ones be? You wouldn’t even resemble the picture in the old ones any more. A very ridiculous concept, don’t you agree?

If you do agree than can you explain why you keep pictures of your old identity in your thoughts. Why do you still see yourself as that kid that got picked on or was fat or was a late bloomer in one or more areas of your life? Is that your identity now or did that expire a long time ago? When you meet someone new do you pull out an old driver’s license and say that’s who you are? Of course not!

The old you is gone. It exists in a different time and vibration. Every single day you are better than you were the day before it. Each day you have twenty four hours more of experience, of thinking, of growing. Who you were is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is who you are right now! To compare yourself to who you were is a grave injustice.​​​​​​​ 

The only thing standing in your way of being who you want to be is all the expired yesterdays you keep trying to see as current. You are not in third grade anymore. You are not stumbling in your very first relationship anymore. You are not hindered by childish inexperience anymore. You are so much better than all that now.

Today waits at your bedside each morning with open arms welcoming you to unlimited possibilities. It says to you as you awaken “Leave yesterday to yesterday. I have enough for you to enjoy all day”. This day is unique, precious and priceless. Be grateful. Be open. Be amazed. Today is still wet clay, a new canvas. In the hours that are left it can still be reshaped or repainted. Make it a masterpiece. You deserve it!

Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.

 Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
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Heroes

November 7th, 2016

Where are you going? Maybe you have a plan and that’s good but just because you have a plan doesn’t mean that life is going to follow it. Sometimes it will and you’ll be in the flow and feel the wind at your back and you will experience elation and enthusiasm. Sometimes it won’t and you’ll be down in the dumps and you will experience sadness and frustration.

Whether you are up or down or just coasting along in neutral, you are experiencing and every experience you have makes you wiser, more understanding and more able. You learn to adapt and overcome. You become a better you!

Yes, there have been many obstacles that you have faced but you have overcome every one of them without exception. Whenever life has thrown you a curve ball you have moaned and complained but you have never failed to adapt to the situation.

Your track record for overcoming obstacles and adapting to sudden changes is impeccable. Nothing has ever stopped you. Nothing ever will. You are made of hope and fortitude and power. You have experienced more than most people and you have persevered and you keep moving forward. 

Yes, there have been dark times that lacked any clarity but you held on and generated your own light to find a way out and you did. You have always triumphed. It’s who you are on the inside.

There will be more hurts and pain and darkness in your future and when they come I want you to try to remember who you really are. Remember that you are facing this new obstacle because you have overcome every other one without exception. You are facing a new challenge because you keep moving up on your levels of strength and the only way you can grow is to be challenged at a higher level.

Where are you going? You are going into the memories of everyone who knew you. You are going into the DNA of everyone you have loved. You are going to Heaven or Nirvana or Valhalla or wherever the heroes go because that’s who you are. Between now and then keep adapting. Keep showing them how it’s done and keep remembering that luck didn’t get you this far, the light and strength inside of you did and it never fails. Neither do you.
 

 Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.

 Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
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