April 30th, 2012
How do we feel better when we are not feeling good? The key is inside of you. No, not your heart and lungs and pancreas! It is inside the way you think. The key is to utilize your imagination, that nuclear reactor of stored energy. That same energy that constructed Disney World and Rome and Build-a-Bears. Seriously, I know first hand that if you are not feeling good, the world looks awfully gray and uninviting but imagination, your imagination can change that at any time and any place .
When things seem dark and neither candle nor match can be found, imagine you found them. Imagine, just for a moment, any improvement in any area of your life. It doesn’t have to be real or even possible but go ahead and attempt to see anything in your life as different, as better. I know it’s not easy but all we are looking for is to poke one tiny little pinhole in the dark box we are in when we don’t feel good. That one tiny little hole can bring light to where we are and can also let us see that there is light outside the box. It can be life changing.
When we want our life to change the biggest mistake is expecting that it can all totally change at the same time. Start small. Start infinitesimally small. You can build on that. Flex your pinky finger. It’s working! Feel your earlobe. It doesn’t hurt! Hooray! How’s that eyebrow feel?
When a big ship wants to tie up at the dock, they don’t even try to throw the big rope onto the dock. It would be impossible. They throw a small rope that’s connected to a bigger rope that’s connected to an even bigger rope that is connected to the great big rope that will tie the ship to the dock. Imagine something small that feels good and keep focusing on it. Imagining one small bit of light will get you to places that focusing on a giant amount of darkness never will. Go small and be happy! You can do it if you try.
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
April 23rd, 2012
The moment you were born no one held you up and yelled “This child is incomplete! Quick, find another child to make this one complete!” It didn’t happen like that because it wasn’t the truth. You were born into this world complete. You didn’t need any one to complete you. You still are complete but you have forgotten.
On a heart and soul level you are connected to all of life and nothing is lacking. On a physical and emotional level you have a desire to bond with others but is a desire and not a necessity. There are times when you really need to be alone and you should. The problem is that we have terribly confused aloneness and loneliness.
Loneliness is the feeling that we are somehow incomplete without the presence of someone else. Aloneness simply means that there is no one else physically around at the moment. Aloneness can be remedied by reaching out to any one of the seven billion people on this planet. Loneliness can only be remedied by understanding that you are perfect just the way you are.
You are complete and whole. You are one flower in an endless field of flowers. Your leaves and blossoms may not touch another flower until the wind blows just right but you are always touching and connected through your roots to every other flower in the field.
If there is someone in your life, they don’t complete you. They join you as divine company on the journey. If there is no one in your life right now it does not mean that you are incomplete. It just means that you have some space to grow and blossom before the wind blows just right.
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
April 16th, 2012
Mostly Sunny With A Chance of Showers
Imagine waking up in the morning and planning your day, you listen to the weather and the forecast is “Today will be mostly sunny with a chance of showers”, what would you do? Would you write the day off? Would you refuse to go outside for fear of being soaked? Would you tie down all the patio furniture?
Of course not! If you made any adjustment at all, maybe you would change your jacket or grab an umbrella. You, like everyone else, would feel pretty good at the prospect of sunshine. If you had a chance to eat al fresco at a cute little lunch place, you’d probably go for it especially if the sky looked clear. You would keep an eye on the sky and be ready to adapt if clouds came but you would enjoy the sunshine for as long as you could.
Every lifetime is sunny with a chance of showers. Oh, make no mistake about it, the rain will come on occasion and sometimes it will be a great big gully washer but the sunny days will always outnumber the rainy ones. The stormy days will be worth experiencing for one reason or another and of course the sunny days will be great to experience. The only days that you want to stay away from are the days that you don’t enjoy because you are waiting for a storm and it doesn’t show up. Those are the wasted days and you really don’t want too many of those. Better to be caught in the rain than to miss the sunshine.
March 26th, 2012
Is there success in your future? Most of us pursue success like the proverbial carrot in front of the horse. The story goes that if you put a carrot just out of reach in front of a horse he will pursue the carrot and just keep on trotting along. Is there some way that you can just stop and enjoy the carrot?
The answer is…drum roll please….. No, you cannot stop. Life has no off switch. A change switch but no off switch. Yes, you can still enjoy A carrot. Notice that I said A carrot and not THE carrot.
What success is for you will always be just that – YOUR idea of success. NEVER let someone else’s description of success be yours. If your description of success and theirs matches, great but let it be because you found yours and didn’t just blindly or lazily adopt theirs.
You needs will change with age and circumstance and so your carrot should change also and that is why I said A carrot and not THE carrot. A success may be closing a big deal. A success may be potty changing a child. A success may be completing a 5K. All of these can be carrots for one person. In other words, let your carrot change!
You are never a success because you found just one carrot to pursue and you got it. If all you have at the end of this life is one carrot, you’ve wasted your time. Go get the carrot of happiness and the carrot of love and the carrot of God and the carrot of laughter and the carrot of adventure and a whole bunch more.
You weren’t born with blinders on. The poor horse only sees one carrot in his pursuit. You can look around. You can find more carrots. Pursue as many paths as you want. The line from birth to death should not look like a straight line. It should look like a plate of spaghetti. Enjoy your life. There is no failure. There is only bunches and bunches of carrots for you to enjoy. Bon Appetit!
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
March 19th, 2012
Everyone is always telling you to follow your dream, don’t give up on your dream, make your dream happen, plan the path to your dream. But…what if you don’t have a dream?
What if you just want to survive without pain and without creditors calling and you just want people to like you? Well, THAT’s your dream! Dreams do not have to be writing the great American novel or becoming a world class cello player or becoming a famous sports figure. Those dreams are fine but there is no hierarchy of dreams. One dream is not better than another dream. Dreams aren’t better just because they are bigger or more complex.
Your dream of someone to love you or your dream of sitting by a pool reading a good book or making a tasty dinner are GREAT dreams! None of us are in dream competition. What small thing would you like to accomplish? Eating spaghetti without getting any sauce on your clothes? A great dream! Make spaghetti as often as you can stand it and eat it as carefully as you can and when that day comes that you take the last bite and your clothes are still clean, pat yourself on the back and think up a new dream.
Yes, our nation had a dream about going to the moon and it was a very big dream but that big dream was made up of countless, small, doable dreams. Someone had the dream of a helmet and someone else had a dream of creating a great latch for the door and on and on.
Don’t wait for a gigantic dream. Don’t despair or think that somehow you are deficient because you don’t have a great big dream. Follow every small curiosity. Follow every hunch. Follow every interesting idea. Those are all dreams calling to you. Try everything you want to try and someday people will look back on your life and say ” Wow! That person was really happy!”.
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
March 12th, 2012
Do you ever feel stuck? Stuck in a relationship or lack of one or stuck in debt or dieting or fear or health issues? Sometimes it feels like quicksand, just slowly sinking and the more you try or struggle, the deeper you sink? If none of this applies, go straight to gratitude and ignore the following guidance.
I have been horribly stuck in an array of scenarios many times in my life. Sometimes I felt like Hans Solo in the old Star Wars when he gets put into that contraption that freezes him into an immovable state. Over and over this happened until I found the solution. One day I realized that it wasn’t Jabba the Hut that was causing my dilemma, it was me!
Sure, I wished for a way out but all and I do mean all of my thoughts were always about what a horrible, no answer predicament I was in. I was consumed by the problem, the problem, the problem. I couldn’t find a solution so obviously one didn’t exist. Of course it didn’t exist where I was looking! It was like looking for a white shirt in a coal mine. Do white shirts exist? Of course they do but not in coal mines!
If you want a solution to your problem you must learn to get out of the coal mine of complaining, griping, whining and blaming yourself or anyone else. You have to climb out of the darkness and negativity by fully realizing that the answer, like the white shirt, cannot be found down there.
The solution is that you have to get up, stand up, and look up. Next, state your problem, understand your problem, surrender your problem and imagine with a positive expectancy that a solution is on the way. Stay out of the coal mine and you’ll have that white shirt faster than you could imagine. It’s not the easiest thing in the world but I know you can do it.
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
February 27th, 2012
Where are the awards for loving and caring? You know that you have been nominated don’t you? Every time someone remembers a kindness you did for them, you get a vote cast for you. Every time someone remembers how you went out of your way when you really didn’t want to, you get a vote cast for you. Every time you forgive the hurt someone did to you, you get a vote cast for you. Every time you send a prayer out there for someone you get another vote cast for you.
More votes are being cast for you every day than you could possibly imagine. People who know or have known you are always silently thanking you for the positive words and compassion you had for them. People who don’t know you are praying for you and your love to triumph in this world. You are one of the stars on this planet and many people know it.
Many people are voting for you but who nominated you? Before you were born there was a great deal of discussion about what this planet would need at this time and you were chosen to come here and make a difference and you have and you continue to make a huge difference. “Oh” you say “you couldn’t possibly mean me. I’ve screwed up so many times it isn’t funny.” Yes and no. Yes, you have screwed up many times and no, it really is funny.
You have screwed up in ways that were unimaginable to a regular person. You have blundered and guessed wrong more times than most people BUT you recovered each and every time. You triumphed time and time again. You dug yourself out of every hole you fell into. You got back up every time you got knocked down.
You could have come here and just talked and no one would have listened or changed but you showed by example that you could overcome anything and still be caring and loving no matter how difficult your path. Your strength has made a difference. Your love has made a difference. Your caring has made a difference and your example has made a difference.
The votes are still being counted but from what I hear, you are the favorite to get the award. Well done.
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
February 20th, 2012
“Oh sure”, you say,”I’m never going through that stuff again. Nobody is ever going to do that to me again. I’ve changed”. And then surer than a daily sunrise, somebody does”it” to you again. Why? Because you really haven’t changed. Oh, you got a bit more experience under your belt but you are still you. You haven’t really changed.
If you dress up like a lumberjack, people are going to treat you like a lumberjack. If you change the part in your hair and dress up like a lumberjack people are still going to treat you like a lumberjack because you’ve only made a small change. If you really want to change, you’ve got to make GREAT changes and if you want to make GREAT changes, you have to make GREAT changes in the way you talk to yourself.
You can’t criticize and whip your self all day everyday and then complain that there is no joy in your life, that you are stuck.
Self esteem problem? NO!
Self confidence problem? NO!
Self talk problem? YES!!!!
Starting right now, make a commitment that you will no longer linger on any thought that is critical of your looks, capabilities, income, past or relationships. Starting right now, make a commitment to accept and be kind to yourself in every bit of self talk and to start envisioning a brighter tomorrow in every way.
Starting right now, tell yourself that you are heading to the top of the mountain and you’re not packing anything negative for the trip. Talk to yourself repeatedly about how blessed and wonderful you are and you’ll be surprised at how fast you get to the top. You can do it!
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
February 13th, 2012
She knew the way home alright so there was no need to look up, ever. Nothing went through her mind as she walked the familiar path. That’s not exactly true. A lot of thoughts came and went through her mind but nothing of any consequence. She went up the familiar stairs and through the familiar door and into her familiar bedroom and once again laid on her familiar bed.
The question “What’s the use?” started to surface in her mind but it had come up so many times without ever being satisfied that it just faded away before it could be fully recognized. Suddenly, a thought that had never been there before walked right in. Just as “What’s the use?” was fading away, “What if?” walked right in and started looking around in her mind. What if? started seeing possibilities even in the grayness and the shadows. What if? looked out through her eyes and started reporting back all the possibilities in her familiar bedroom.
She sat up on the bed and started to listen to the cascade of ideas that what if? was generating. Some sounded silly but most sounded very interesting. What if? instantly became her best friend. Nobody had ever made her feel so alive and energized. What if? put a golden glow on every single thought she explored. What if? was just what she had always been looking for but never found up until now. She imagined herself walking and running with what if?. She thought that what if? would make school so much more fun. Why even her reflection in the mirror looked better when she listened to what if? talk about it. She just knew that life was going to be so much better now because what if? would always be there to solve problems and give a fresh outlook to everything. For the first time since heaven knows when, she was happy.
Just a silly little story about an imaginary girl and you are obviously not her but …what if?
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
February 6th, 2012
When you get a chance, take a look at a picture of yourself, the less flattering the better. The first feeling is recognition (yep, that’s me) and then very quickly you become the critic (OMG look at the way I …). Stop!
Do you have any idea of all the person in that picture has been through? Do you have any idea how hard the struggle has been? Do you know how very hard that person is working to make a better life? Do you know that the person in that picture just wants a chance to do good, to help others and to be remembered as someone who really cared, to love and be loved? Don’t you think that the person in the picture in front of you deserves a break from your criticism? Of course you do.
If a fighter punched himself repeatedly for days before he got into the ring, what chance would he have at winning? None. The world is not difficult. Making money is not difficult. Having a loving relationship is not difficult. Having the strength or energy to do any of that after beating up on yourself repeatedly is very difficult.
Everything you want in life starts with how you treat you. If you think you can do something, it’s done. If you think that you deserve more, you’ll get it. If you like and love yourself, your world will reflect exactly that.
It’s time to love you. It’s time to look at that picture of you and declare once and for all “I’m going to take care of you! I’m going to support you! I’m going to help you, build you up, be your biggest cheerleader”. It’s time to change and the biggest and most important change is to begin talking better to yourself. You can do it and you definitely deserve it after all you’ve been through. Right?
(C) 2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com