Shine

March 28th, 2016

 The problem with feeling loving and being happy is that it is so damn difficult to share.

Walk down any street looking down at the ground and have a worried look on your face and no one bats an eye. Walk down that same street with a big smile on your face and standing tall and people will avoid you like the plague.

​​​​​​​ Someone comes over and shares their personal tale of woe with you and you share similar tales of your own and you are bonded as friends. That same person comes over and tells you the same woeful tale and you hesitate to say how good your life is because you fear the end of that friendship.

 A stranger next to you at the store remarks that the world is going to hell in a hand basket and you nod affirmatively. Telling them your short list of all the good things happening and the progress in so many areas seems like the wrong thing to talk about right then.

 Only a small percentage of people will understand, support and celebrate your love and happiness but real friends will and pets will and trees will and people who are in love will and Heaven will and young children will and the wind will and Angels will and flowers will.

 The truth is that you can’t always act happy but you can always be happy.

Imagine if you can that you swallowed a really bright light. In fact this light is so bright that it actually shines out through your body. Kind of like putting a bright candle in a milk jug.  Well happiness is just like that candle. The jug still looks like an ordinary milk jug but now it’s illuminating everything around it. 

 You can still be a normal (for this era) looking person and you can still let your amazing love and happiness shine through you all the time. You can listen to a woeful tale and have concern on your face but you can be shining like a full moon. You can nod at the pessimism of a stranger but you can still be shining like a bonfire. You can walk down the street like everyone else but you can still be shining like the noonday sun.

There will be times when you can show your love and happiness and times when it just won’t be acceptable BUT you can always shine that love and happiness of yours from within. The right people will always notice it and the people who need some light in their lives will think that they always feel good around you.

 Your mission should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible theme) is to be an incognito love and happiness shiner. Accept this mission and you’ll never again wonder about your purpose. Shine brightly!

 

Patrick McBride’s Sundrops On Life 

(c)2016 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
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Love

June 8th, 2015

Love. Do we use the word too casually? Do we lessen the value of the word when we say things like “I love the color of that wall” or maybe “I love chocolate” or how about “I love the way that feels”.

Does all of this take away from looking into someone’s eyes and saying “I love you”? Is the word love now cheapened somehow by overuse or by using the word too often on frivolous things?

The truth is that LOVE is the most amazing word in the world. No matter the language, the word LOVE cannot be cheapened or overused. The word LOVE is a superlative. The word LOVE says that something or someone is due the highest praise. The word LOVE says that something or someone ignites a passion for a moment or a lifetime in us.

Use the word as often as you can. Use it in every situation. Look for places to use it. The more you focus on the word LOVE, the more you will stay close to the feeling of love. And if you are close to the feeling of love, life will have that special vibration that makes even the mundane feel special.

LOVE your chocolate, your car, your jammies, your hot showers, your coffee, your tea, your bed, your pillow, your couch, your food, your music, your yoga, your TV, your books, the ocean, the sky and everything else in creation. Then when you look into the eyes of a pet, a child, a friend, a loved one and you say “I love you” they will know that you are quite familiar with that word and you know exactly what it means. I love you.

(c)2015 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com

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Lego

March 30th, 2015

If you ever had children or have ever been around children, you probably know the excruciating pain of stepping on a Lego building block with your bare feet. The pain is so immediate and so intense that I believe the Geneva Convention has outlawed it as a form of interrogation.

If you are anything like me, your pain probably morphed into anger rather quickly. Thoughts of destroying every Lego ever made, putting the offending child in the town’s pillory and nuking the playroom came easily to mind.

You call out loud for the child to appear so that they may be witness to the terrible pain that has taken over your entire foot and when they show up…

They are so sorry and so upset about your distress and they ask how they can help and they rush over to see the hurt. All of a sudden you realize that they hurt too. Your pain is their pain and now you forget your pain and tell them that it’s okay and they need to pick up their toys.

​ What happened? Did your pain suddenly disappear? No, truth is that it still hurts like the dickens but your pain took a back seat to their pain. Why? Because you love. That’s right, every pain in this world is lessened by love. There are no regrets where love was the guiding force. Love trumps every other emotion. Love is the power that helps a tiny Mom lift a heavy car off a loved one. Love is the force that powers people through the most trying times. Love is your birthright. Love is ALWAYS available as a choice.

Alway remember to love regardless of circumstances. Always remember to love yourself. Always remember to shuffle your feet when you walk through the playroom.

(c)2015 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com

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Love

March 2nd, 2015

The record for deadlifting a tremendous amount of weight is 461 kg (1,016 lb) by Benedikt Magnusson set at 2014’s Europe’s Strongest Man competition in England. Magnusson trained every day for many years to accomplish this amazing feat. In 2012, in Glen Allen, Virginia, 22-year-old Lauren Kornacki rescued her father, Alec Kornacki, after the jack used to prop up his BMW slipped, pinning him under it. Lauren lifted the car, weighing over 3,500 pounds, off her father and saved his life. How is this possible?

Let’s talk about strength for a moment. Is it possible to be strong? Absolutely. What does it take? A few years, a good set of genes, proper rest, nutrition and exercise and you will undoubtedly be strong. But how do you get strong in a moment? No one can condense years of training into a moment BUT everyone can love more than they ever had in just one moment.

​ Love is the miracle worker. Love holds to no laws of physics, no rules, regulations or reason. We think of love as this gentle force that cradles a child and while it is that it is also so much more.

Love is your rejuvenator. Love is your source for unlimited strength. Love is your gift, your blessing. It is the greatest gift that you have been given. Stop looking for love. Stop chasing love. Start being love. Start tapping into this miracle energy. Start filling yourself with love. Kick out worry and frustration and agitation. Move in love. Live love. Lots of it!

Lauren Kornacki didn’t lift a BMW off her father because she had big muscles. She did it because she had a big heart filled with love.

Do you want to feel stronger than you ever have been? Love as much and as often as you can and then love some more. Find reasons to love, any reason any time. Focus on love. Eat, breathe and think love. Love is your gift. Open it!

(c)2015 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com

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Grandmother

September 22nd, 2014

I sat and I cried when my grandmother died. It was many years ago but I still remember the loss I felt. The kindest, wisest, most loving person I had ever known was gone. My world seemed to be missing something so important to my well being.

I sat and I cried and the tears were for me. I knew that she was finally out of the pain that cancer had visited upon her. She was free. Somewhere she was young again. Somewhere she was surrounded by so many loved ones. Somewhere the family she grew up with was together again.

I sat and I cried even though I knew all this to be true. If I could no longer have her physically in my life I wanted another person just like her. I wanted to begin a search immediately. I didn’t want the pain of her loss to last forever.

I sat and I cried for a long time because I knew down deep that there was no one else like her and I believed that I would always grieve.

I sat and I cried until one day I realized that she was a part of me that couldn’t be lost unless I rejected everything she ever taught me. She was more than just a part of my DNA. She was my memories. She was my patience. She was how I saw the world and it was a magnificent viewpoint.

I never sat and cried about her after that realization because the thoughts of her were no longer about loss but about the immense gratitude that she was my grandmother. My life changed again because I had traded loss for lucky. I think she would have approved the change.

(c)2014 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com

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Wordlessness

September 8th, 2014

We think, oh Lord how much we think! We think about the future, the past, the laundry, the name of that thing, the repercussions of what we just did or thought about doing. Another thought filled moment of our life passes by much like all the others. Is there something to be gained by all of this thinking? In a word, no.

Thoughts are made from words and words are one of the most wonderful parts of our lives but there is something even more wonderful and that is wordlessness. There are no words in the night sky or in the sound of a flute or in a lover’s eyes until we put them there. Don’t rush to find the right words. For a moment, just be.

Train yourself to see the moon and stars with a sense of awe without describing it. See the beauty of creation all around you and feel the upwelling of gratitude inside of you but stop short of translating that feeling into words. Sense the love you have for another and their love for you and let it fill your whole being without naming it.

It is in presence without subtitles that we truly live large.

Words will describe our world for us but they will also limit our experience. Today, go beyond words every now and then and just be in awe of this miracle and blessing we have been gifted.Today, once or twice, take a conscious breath and take a break from thinking and just be.Today, love without description or judgement for just a moment or two. There is something special to be discovered there. Just be. There are no words for that. Thank Heavens.

©2014 All Rights Reserved, Patrick J McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
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Moonlight

September 2nd, 2014

When we think about moonlight we think about the soft light that filters down and illuminates the darkest night with a silvery glow. When the moon is at its fullest the moonlight can turn the night into a seemingly softly lit, beautiful day. Oh, how beautiful the light of the moon.

As beautiful as that is, the truth is that the moon really doesn’t have any light of its own. The moon moves in the sky like a quiet sentinel and it is only when the light of the sun strikes it just right that we have what we call moonlight. It is the powerful sun that creates light energy with its boiling gases. It is the sun that warms the planet and grows the earth.

There is a power in the universe that is greater than all the suns in all the galaxies and it is constantly sending forth its light. There are places and people that are blocked from that light for a myriad of reasons. Our role is not to separately try to generate that light but to reflect what is already there.

In other words, you and I are meant to be moonlight. We are meant to softly light the darkness. Some of us spend our lives looking for a purpose, something to generate. Our purpose is and has always been to reflect the light.

We reflect the light by being like the light. When we love, when we are kind, when we are uplifting, when we are happy, when we are grateful we reflect the light. When we are full, fully conscious, we reflect the light most strongly.

Yes, my dear, you are like the beautiful moonlight only stronger. Shine on.

(c)2014 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com

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Special

April 14th, 2014

We didn’t all win the spelling bee or the ball game. We never got singled out for our great thoughts and our love and caring like we thought we should. And so we gave up on feeling special and we tried to think of ourselves as just like everyone else. We started to practice fitting in and being like everyone else or at least trying to be like the people we liked. The truth of the matter is that as hard we tried, we didn’t fit in. Oh, we tried. Boy, did we try. It just didn’t work for us like it seemed to work for everyone else.

The estrangement comes from the fact that we know our inner world and we compare our inner world to everyone’s outer projection. We think that their projection is who they are on the inside. We are wrong. They are just trying to fit in too.

It’s hard to see the oneness of people when everyone acts so differently and believes so differently. It’s hard to see us all as one big family unless you also believe in extreme limits of being dysfunctional. The truth is we are all one on the inside not on the outside. The outside is where we act as cops and robbers and protagonists and antagonists and strangers and lovers. The inside is where we love.

Whatever part you are playing or projecting right now, know that your heart beats in harmony with over seven billion others and that long after your physical heart stops beating, the pulse of life that is common to all of us will continue to beat in you. That’s our oneness.

On the outside you and I will have moments of being special and moments of being not so special but that is just the parts we are playing. Don’t take it so seriously! It is the inside that keeps us eternally connected and eternally special. Have fun with the outside, with what you can create and what you can experience but if you want to feel special look nowhere but inside. Search for the source of love within you and you will be amazed at how special you really are in every moment.

(c)2014 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
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Cow Dung

December 16th, 2013

Let’s say you have a jar and it is filled right up to the very tippy top with gold dust. Now suppose that someone wanted to put some cow dung in your jar. What would happen? Absolutely nothing because there would be no room. Now suppose that your jar was only a half or a quarter full and someone wanted to put some cow dung in there. Why, there would be plenty of room and while the gold dust would still be valuable, it would stink as much as the cow dung around it. What does this have to do with you?

When we consider ourselves to be complete, when we are filled with self love and gratitude, there is no room for anyone to put their dung in our lives. When we realize our own divinity and know that the kingdom is within us, there is no room for anything else. When we doubt, when we lose faith in ourselves, when we lose faith in faith, when we can no longer see the good, when we turn away from the positives in our own life, then we leave room for things that do not serve us to enter our lives and stink up our thoughts.

For whatever reason, there are toxic people out there. It is part of everyone’s DNA to share what they have. They will share their toxicity and you will share your love. If they are full of toxicity they will not have room for your love. If you are filled with love you will not have room for their toxins.

If you find yourself recalling hurtful words that were said to you or endlessly replaying the videos of hurtful things that were done to you, you are diminishing your love of your life and making room for their dung.

Anyone who has done any canning will tell you that you don’t leave room at the top of the jar or bacteria will grow and spoil everything inside. Stay full. Think so many positive thoughts of love and gratitude that you absolutely overflow. Stay filled with the joy and wonder of life. Walk your talk and live your truths and when someone tries to give you some dung, just honestly say “No thanks. I have no room for that”.

(c)2013 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
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Identified and Labeled

July 1st, 2013

When we categorize someone as a woman or a man, it isn’t just an observation like whether it is day or night. It is a judgement. Certain roles and rules suddenly apply to that person. Are they too masculine or too feminine? Identified and labeled! Are they not masculine enough? Are they not feminine enough? Identified and labeled! Are their pecs, breasts, muscles and genitals worthy of pursuit! Identified and labeled! Do they seem to have a large bitch or jerk propensity! Identified and labeled!

After all these and a dozen more tabulations are made, we decide whether or not we will engage the person and whether or not they can be an asset to us. And then, we sit and we endlessly ponder why more people can’t be friendly and open just like us. The fact is that after all of our tabulations, we actually believe that we know the person because we have labeled them so deftly as if they were a South American butterfly that we had killed and mounted and identified and labeled.

All men and all women are so much more than we can see. They are so much more than their gender, bodies, financial and educational level. They are dreaming, feeling, upset, scared, unsure, anxious, complex beings powered by a spirit that they are trying to connect with to find the instructions on what to do next just like you and I. Give them a break. Hold your gossip, give a little praise, forget the well timed snide remark or look and forgive them. Make their life a little easier and not harder. Everybody is having a day just like you have had. You know what it felt like. If someone had been kind to you on one of those days, it would have meant more than gold to you. You have that power. Go ahead, give them a break and a kind word. You’ll both be better for it and the world will get a little brighter.

(c)2013 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com