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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February 9th, 2015
After the first few minutes, the problem is no longer the problem. The problem is just a fact like any other fact. Once you have stated and understood the problem, the only logical and beneficial step to take is to spend 100% of your time and energy on searching for a solution. Any time spent with the problem after understanding the problem is a failure on your commitment to find a solution.
Let’s say you walk out the door of your house and after a couple of steps you realize you have a problem. It is raining and you have no umbrella or rain gear. Problem stated and understood. At this point, standing out in the rain trying to ascertain why it is raining, why it is raining on you, why you didn’t know it was raining beforehand is a problem with very wet consequences. None of this thinking, analyzing and contemplation will keep you dry. Action is the solution. Focusing 100% on not getting wetter propels you back into the house quickly and outfits you with the proper attire to venture forth again. Solution.
Take each problem that you have from the minuscule to the gigantic and write it down. Understand it. Give it a number. Throw it away. Take another piece of paper, put only the number of your problem at the top and start contemplating solutions and write each one down.
A piece of paper filled with possible solutions is so much more productive than a mind filled with problems.
(c)2015 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
Facebook – Sundrops On Life
April 28th, 2014
If you want to run a race, go back to school, lose weight, get a promotion, strike out on your own, there is always the same advice, believe in yourself. It’s great advice but how exactly does one do such a thing?
Let’s start by explaining the opposite. How does someone NOT believe in themselves? First and most importantly, they would have to convince themselves that they are totally alone and unconnected to any source of life or energy. Secondly, they would have to have a voluntary kind of amnesia whereby everyone who believed in them and their abilities and potential would be forgotten. Thirdly, they would have to convince themselves that they have never succeeded in or overcome anything no matter how small. If by chance these three steps can be mastered (it will take daily reinforcement over a long period of time) one will actually be able to stand up and say that they don’t believe in themselves. Oh, but wait… if they do that then they will actually have to admit that they succeeded at something and that wouldn’t, couldn’t really be allowed. Forget the last paragraph.
Okay, moving on, if one wishes to believe in oneself one must climb a great mountain barefoot or save a squadron of nuns from shark infested burning buildings and remember one of those two incidences anytime they fail to believe in themselves.
Absurd? You betcha. It’s absurd because everyone believes in themselves. It was hardwired into each of us at birth. It’s the reason we hope and pray and cry sometimes. We believe that our life is tough and we honestly believe that we can make it better. We believe that we have overcome pain and sickness and loneliness and will continue to do so. We believe that all that we have been through has somehow made us wiser and stronger. We believe that another mistake, another embarrassment, another wrong choice is not going to be the end of us. Yes, we believe in us. Sometimes we just have to remember.
So when someone tells you that you have to believe in yourself, don’t ask “How?”, just smile and say “Thanks for the reminder”.
(c)2014 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
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April 21st, 2014
We all want to know our purpose. We all want to know what we should really be doing with our lives. The answer is that our life, our destiny is in the hands of a Creator who is much more than we are. Our life’s purpose is being guided unerringly in a certain direction. Otherwise it would be like putting a hundred small children in a playground and expecting a city to be built. Not going to happen. There is guidance in every moment of our lives. There is a plan! You and I don’t have to worry about the thing we most worry about!
When we surrender to a higher power it doesn’t mean that we throw our hands up in the air and give up. It doesn’t mean that we suddenly become a puppet of some celestial being. It means that we agree to flow in the direction that we are beings guided. Which direction is that? It is the direction that makes us feel better.
When we are cruel or mean, we feel bad. It’s a sign that we are thinking and acting in the wrong direction. When we help someone, when we do a kindness and feel good, it is the right direction.
There is guidance for us every step of the way. We can ignore it and make our journey one of suffering or we can accept it and realize that all is well. It may not seem like it in every moment but all is always well. Have faith in that. Faith is not a memorization of words but a commitment to ignore the clouds because you know without a doubt that there is a sun shining behind them.
Your road is laid out for you. You can’t fail. Your only job is to hold as many hands and paws as you can along the way. Lighten up, stop worrying and start enjoying.
(c)2014 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
Facebook – Sundrops On Life
January 20th, 2014
“It’s not working!”. You have tried to live a good life. You have bought countless books, read innumerable articles, spent endless hours on the internet and still… it’s not working! You changed your diet, started exercising a bit, started thinking positive, focused on your heart center and still… it’s not working! What more can you possibly do?
Give up! That’s right, give up! Give up your quest for perfection. Give up your need to know everything before it happens. Give up your compulsion to change other people. Give up your search for that special ritual, talisman, secret that will forever banish pain, depression and confusion from your life. It doesn’t exist.
You have a life and each life is a wild mixture of pleasure and pain. There is chaos and panic and broken promises. There is joy and unbelievable love and incredible adventures and interactions with other people that are going through the same scenarios but at different times then you. There is learning and there is unlearning. There are illusions and delusions and yet you have a bit of control.
You can control your attitude. You can dance to this wild crazy music instead of waiting for a slow song that’s familiar. You can cry and not hate yourself for crying. You can throw your mistakes and misgivings and self recriminations on the bonfire. You can just live.
That’s right. Give up your quest for perfection and just live. Accept the body you have. Accept your past. Accept your lack in any area. Accept your condition. Keep your dreams, your aspirations on your wish list but take whatever life gives you and good or ugly, devour it. Stop complaining. Stop blaming. Stop criticizing yourself or your choices. Stop looking for what’s wrong.
Strip off the illusion of security and protection. Pull a chair up to life’s table and say. “I’m hungry for more. Bring me what’s next on the menu. I’m going to devour whatever it is!”. An appetite for life. There’s the ticket.
(c)2013 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
Facebook – Sundrops On Life
January 13th, 2014
Each and every one of us is dancing to a tune. The really big question is whose music are you dancing to each day? Maybe it’s a boss or maybe it’s a parent or friend or neighbor. Maybe it’s the news or the weather. Maybe it’s a sickness or disease. Maybe it’s a child or maybe it’s regrets. Maybe fear is calling the tune for you to dance to today.
If you are not dancing to your own music you most certainly are dancing to someone’s music because we are all dancing. A “friend” says something hurtful and you dance slow and painful. Your boss yells at you and you dance frightened and insecure. A parent criticizes and you dance small and tearful. The news reports something awful and you dance outraged and boisterous. You feel sick and you dance weak and weary. You get scared and you dance into a safe corner.
Everyone and everything in life is playing a tune and you will dance to the one that is the loudest at the moment UNLESS your music is louder. That’s right, you, like everything else in this world has a tune. With all the chaos of growing up and dancing to so many other people’s tunes you forgot yours. You turned yours way down so that you could learn about other tunes and you eventually forgot yours.
Today is a very special day. Today is the day you are reminded of your music. Today is the day that you get to turn it back up. Your music is about your needs. Your music is about your dreams. Your music is about your aspirations. Your music is about your desires and your pleasures. Your music is about how you want to live. Your music is about your uniqueness and your love. No other music can control you if your music is louder. Turn yours up!
(c)2013 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
Facebook – Sundrops On Life
November 11th, 2013
“What do I need a paddle for?” I asked the whitewater rafting guide. Right before me was the fastest flowing water I had ever seen. I planned on getting into the raft and holding on for dear life and letting the raging river carry me downstream. “There are times when you are going to have to paddle really hard so you don’t smash into something and capsize” he said.
I have thought about those golden words more times than I ever thought about the actual ride down that raging river. Many times I have found myself facing a crisis and all I wanted to do was hold on and let life just carry me through it but that’s not a good plan for living and it certainly isn’t a good plan for whitewater rafting either.
When we are faced with trouble, when the roar of the problem is intimidating us and we know a rough time is ahead in our health or our relationship or career or finances we can just close our eyes and hold on and hope we don’t capsize OR we can take control of our thoughts (our mental paddle!) and steer ourselves away from the worst of it.
It is our thoughts that allow us to go around the whirlpools of fear and insecurity. It is thoughts of our Divine connection that reminds us that we are not alone in the raft. It is our thoughts that steer us away from being capsized by unnecessary drama. It is our thoughts that remind us that sometimes life flows quietly and sometimes life rages and that sometimes paddling or thinking a little better can make all the difference.
Whitewater or life, it’s a thrilling ride. A good paddle or good thoughts can make all the difference if we use them. Are you ready to do more than just hold on? It’s not too late to create an epic ride.
(c)2013 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
Facebook – Sundrops On Life
October 21st, 2013
“I’ve talked until I’m blue in the face and nothing changes.” It doesn’t matter if you have said this about a boss, an employee, a coworker, a friend, a parent, a spouse or a child. What does matter is that you are making yourself upset because you forgot the first rule of living on this planet. You can’t change someone else if they don’t want to change.
It doesn’t matter if you have the very best intentions or if you are doing it out of a deep love and caring for the other person. You can’t change someone else if they don’t want to change. You can guilt, bribe, ignore, threaten or shame but the result will be temporary at best.
“So what am I suppose to do? Just sit idly by and let them ruin their lives, their career, their relationship, their health, etc.?” Emphatically NO! You are not suppose to sit idly by. You are suppose to follow the second rule of living on this planet. You are suppose to work on you.
You are supposed to aspire and work toward excellence in every aspect of your own life. Your duty is to become loving, caring, compassionate and even-tempered. Your duty is to embrace all that is good and project the optimism that comes from living a spirit centered life. In other words, you are to become the best example of what you talk about.
If someone is inclined to change, your example will be their blueprint. Your words may be ignored or forgotten but the image of who you have become will never leave them. If, every day, you work on your happiness, honesty, love and being non-judgemental you will become worthy of being copied. That’s your reward. If someone in your life tries to change themselves because of your example, that’s a bonus.
(c)2013 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
Facebook – Sundrops On Life
October 7th, 2013
Some people say good luck is random. Others say it’s karmic. Still others say that we create our own luck. There are also those unsmiling people who say that there is no such thing as good luck. Stay away from those people. Even if they are right about some things, they will suck the joy out of you and life is way too short to spend any time at all with joy suckers.
The truth of the matter is that good luck is always with you. Right now there are billions of germs, bacterias, viruses and other nasties that are trying to devour you. If you are alive, you are winning. Very good luck.
Ever see someone years later who you wanted to date back in the day but didn’t? Very good luck. How about the advice from someone close to you that you didn’t follow. Very good luck too. And how about the time, maybe after a few drinks, that you wanted to do something crazy but someone talked you out of it. Again, very good luck.
Now let’s take a look at your over the top good luck. How about you sit still for a moment and think of your family (the ones you actually like) and what they have meant to you. How about those special, I mean really special people in your life, aren’t they the luckiest thing that ever happened to you? Look around. Aren’t you extremely lucky to have the material possessions that you have?
Yes, you were born with good luck and you will live all of your days with good luck and if by chance something happens to you that doesn’t seem particularly lucky, give it some time. You’ll see that even the things that didn’t seem fortuitous actually were. Lucky you!
(c)2013 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
Facebook – Sundrops On Life
August 26th, 2013
What do you believe? I’m not talking about a particular deity or a particular spiritual practice. I’m not even talking about science or politics. No, I’m asking you a question that is much more important. What do you believe about you? Well, today’s your lucky day. I just happen to have some answers for you. Let me tell you what I believe about you.
You saw the world differently than others when you were small. You could tell when people were lying. You could tell when people honestly liked you and when there was no connection. I believe you still can. You grew up and you felt and endured hurt from others but you kept it to yourself. I believe you can let it go now. You felt bad when you bent to someones will. I believe you are stronger than that now. You knew there was a path for you but it kept disappearing. I believe you are on it now. You want to help make life easier for others. I believe you always have and you will continue to do so. You want to love and be loved in return. I believe you are loved far more than you know. You want someone to completely understand you. I believe that person is inside of you and not outside of you.
I believe that you want to make changes in your health and wealth and I believe you can. I believe that today might be the most important day of your life because I believe that you will look back on this very day and say that was the day I started to appreciate myself. I believe that today you are going to find that indomitable place inside of you and you are going to identify with it. I believe that what you think that people think about you is no where near as important as what you think about you. I believe that you are going to find out just how wonderful you are very soon. I believe that you believe.
(c)2013 All Rights Reserved
www. PatrickInspires. com
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