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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May 11th, 2015
Where does the sun go on a cloudy day? It goes exactly where it always goes. It doesn’t suddenly stop shining because there is no one at the beach or because the clouds block the clarity of its view. It doesn’t lessen who it is because this day is different.
Who you are should be a constant too. It’s easy to shine from your warm, caring, loving heart especially when there are grateful recipients of your kindness.
But what happens to your love when the clouds roll in? What happens to your understanding when someone betrays you? What happens to your compassion when someone you love cuts you off without an explanation? What happens when sickness, debt and fear come round like dark storm clouds?
Most likely you change. You stop seeing the possibilities. You stop seeing objectively. You pull back. Let’s face it, you stop shining. You feel justified in not shining after all, look at all the stuff going on. No one in their right mind could feel better than you right now or could they?
YES!!!!! You can love even when hurt. You can look for better possibilities. You can feel centered and powerful. You can expect a fortuitous outcome. You can see everything in a better light. In other words, you can shine no matter what is happening.
It is not the common response. It is not the accepted response. It is not the response that engenders sympathy BUT you can feel better, even a little better than you do in each and every moment of your life no matter the circumstances.
Remember, your hand is always the only hand on the volume controls of your well being. Turn it up even just a little and you will feel the empowerment. Ignore the clouds and shine anyway.
(c)2015 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
Facebook – Sundrops On Life
February 17th, 2014
What does the darkness look like? It’s… well, it’s kinda like… it’s ah, well, it’s dark. Absolutely correct! When darkness descends on any part of our life or in some cases on our whole life, it is beyond words because we can only describe things in the light. So when someone is experiencing darkness in their life it is useless to ask what’s wrong. The only answer of any truth would be that it is dark.
If a person is in darkness they don’t need someone to describe what it would be like if they weren’t. A voice from the sunny entrance to a cave yelling directions and those words echoing all around the darkness of the cave does not help the person lost in the cave find their way out.
If you want to help someone who is in the dark you must shine so brightly that they can get their bearings. Joining them in the dark without shining brightly just puts two people in the dark. To help you must shine. Shining is not perfect or uplifting words. Shining is an act of love first for yourself and then for everything else within your light. Shining is keeping your light lit with your own uplifting thoughts.
If you want to help, shine. Shine with love. Shine with compassion. Shine with gratitude. Shine with non-judgement. Shine with your eyes, smile and posture. Shine REGARDLESS of whether it is accepted, appreciated or acknowledged. You are not here to fight the darkness. You are here to shine so brightly that there is no darkness.
(c)2014 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com
Facebook – Sundrops On Life