Mistakes

November 19th, 2012

(You are Healing!)

OMG! You made a mistake! You said, did, wrote, acted out, unloaded, lost it, overreacted or just plain chose poorly and now you feel bad. It may have happened a minute ago or decades ago but you are still suffering. Nothing can make you feel as worthless or as crummy as when this mistake comes to mind and what’s worse, there’s a few of them!

Give Yourself A Break. Yeah, you. You have forgiven others over and over again but for some reason, it seems impossible to forgive yourself. Every time you refuse (that’s right, it’s not that you can’t forgive yourself. It’s that you refuse to do it!) to forgive yourself you add another link to the chain that you carry. Pretty soon any forward progress is impossible in your life because of the weight of all the links in your chain. Oh, you’ll say that luck isn’t with you or the right opportunities haven’t come your way but you know it’s the chain.

Today, right now, you can make that chain disappear. You can start by Giving Yourself A Break. You can decide right now to be kind to yourself. You can get rid of the strict teacher, father, mother, priest, minister voice and allow the the healing, loving, compassionate, caring, loving voice to be the dominant voice by simply listening to one voice to the complete exclusion of the other. (You’ve got some experience at that already)

Whatever mistake you made, it is in the past. You may still be paying for it in some way or another but you don’t have to hate yourself for it. It happened, you take full responsibility and you allow it to be an experience and not a whip. Close your eyes and mentally hug yourself. Soothe yourself. Tell yourself that as of today, the chains are off. Tell yourself that you can’t change even the smallest thing in the past but starting today, you are going to live the most loving, compassionate life you can lead and every time that you feel like beating yourself up, you’re going to mentally hug yourself and know that you deserve that break. Repeat and repeat and be free.

(c)2012 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com

 

The Year of You!

January 2nd, 2012

This new year is a special one and I imagine that you already have that feeling but what you may not know is that this year is special not because of what will happen in the world but because of what will happen with you. This is definitely, unequivocally, without any doubt, The year of YOU! That’s right, this is your year.

You have reached a point in your life where you have everything you need to fulfill your dreams. You have thought enough, studied enough, talked enough, worried enough, experienced enough and now you get to use it all! There are no caveats. This really is your year. All you have to do is believe and go right on believing. That’s it!

You don’t have to change a thing. You just have to walk your talk. That’s right, just walk your talk. Start doing what you have been preaching to others. Start owning up to power inside of you. Start believing in you like you tell others to believe in themselves. Start giving pep talks to yourself instead of condemnation. Do what you tell others! Walk that talk of yours! Be happy. Be grateful.

One more seminar or sermon or book or course or bit of travel will not put you finally in that place of confidence in yourself. Only your uncompromising belief in your own unlimited possibilities will do that. This is your year. Do not hide your light under a basket anymore. Do not wait for some magic turnaround.

You can ask, beg, plead, pray, meditate, contemplate and light candles but all is useless until you start telling you: “This is the day I begin to live my life not in response to someone or something else but in complete harmony with my highest aspiration, my dreams. This is the day that, come hell or high water, I begin to like myself enough to create instead of worry. This is the day that I will look back and say it began that day.” This is the year of you and the celebration starts as soon as you say so. Ready? Let’s start this party!

(C) 2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com

 

Selfish

December 5th, 2011

The greatest work is your selfishness. Practice it. Perfect it.

OMG! What is he saying? Doesn’t he know that we need to share, to help, to give until we have no more to give? Sacrifice for your friends and family. Isn’t the mantra of all of the good people selflessness? What kind of eighties throwback me generation thinking is this?

Listen. You must be thoroughly and perfectly selfish before you can ever hope to be selfless. If you don’t work on you, what do you have to give? If you do not follow the principles of health and abundance and devotion yourself, how can you teach by example? If you have not lit your own candle, how will you light others?

Take a close, long look at yourself. Are you walking your talk? Are you as kind to yourself as you espouse to be to the rest of humanity? It is good to be all Gandhi like in your meditation and your yoga practice but what happens when you get off your mat? Is your home, your room, your workplace a place of tranquility and balance?

Or is your mind filled with thoughts of abundant problems and scarce resources? Are you coaching, teaching, instructing others to believe in their own awesomeness? What about yours?

If you want to make a positive difference in your world, your family, your workplace, your relationships then you have to work on you. You have to be selfish for a while until you are what you teach. Get healthy. Get happy. Wear your best clothes. Eat better. Use the good plates. Declutter your surroundings. Have patience. Believe in abundance. Expect good fortune. Love yourself unconditionally. Walk in gratitude. Look for what is right in you. Accept yourself.

Who you are when you are walking in nature or on the mat, in the temple, church, synagogue or ashram is who you need to be as often as you can. A loving, balanced, positive, peaceful you is the best gift you can give to anyone. Be a little selfish. Practice what you preach. The world, your world is wanting you to make a positive difference. Don’t disappoint them.

(C) 2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com

 

Pillow Talk

November 28th, 2011

What do you do when you’ve come to the end of your rope? What do you do when you find yourself at the end of your credit? Or maybe the end of a relationship. Or maybe you’ve been sick for too long. Or maybe all of your friends have disappeared. Or maybe you’ve just lost your sparkle. Or you can’t shake that mood. Or maybe you just can’t see anything positive coming up anytime soon. What do you do?

This may seem a little nutty but it works every time! First, write down on a piece of paper all the questions that you can’t find answers for right now. Second, go into your bedroom and close the door. Set a couple of pillows upright at the head of the bed and then put a piece of your clothing on the pillows. It doesn’t have to be an exact replica of you but make it seem good enough to imagine it is you. Third, put the paper with the questions in front of the pillows. Use all of your imagination and imagine that the pillows are you and you’ve written down those questions. See, imagine or visualize as best as you can.

Now pick up the paper and give your best, clearest advice on each question. There is no “you” answering these questions. The only “you” is sitting in front of you. When we give advice to someone in need, we automatically draw from something deep inside. There is great truth and clarity and insight there. We cannot do it for ourselves when we are upset or depressed but we can always do it for another. The truth is, we give great advice because we want to help others and we never judge another as harshly as we judge our self. We give unbiased advice to someone in need without ever bringing up something from their past but we rarely do it for ourselves.

Use your imagination, suspend your disbelief and open yourself with a positive expectation for the answers you seek. You really can help yourself. It is only when you run out of rope that you learn that you are truly a creator of solutions. Get the answers. Make the changes.

(C) 2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com

 

On Stage

November 7th, 2011

It is true that all the world is a stage but what is also true is that few of us ever stand on that stage. Oh, we know our stuff and we have prepared a million times in our minds but we never make it out to center stage. The truth of the matter is that most of us are born, live and finally die in the wings. We watch others in the spotlight and we think to ourselves “I could do that” or even “I know I am better than that” and we are right. We actually could do it and we really are better than most that are in the spotlight. What stops us from being out there?

The Great Director gave us a chance and put us in the theater of life and gave us free will to choose what we wanted to do while we are there. So what is holding us back? It is simply our limited sense of our own worthiness. We don’t feel that we are good enough to stand on the stage of life. We started out in this life comparing ourselves to the only people around, our parents. We found that they were smarter, bigger, stronger, more articulate, more independent than we were as a small child. In other words, everyone else in our world was better than we were. As we grew things changed but our initial evaluation of the world didn’t. For many of us, it never will. BUT there are a few just like you who are waking up!

There is something inside of you that has been whispering for a long time and now that whisper is turning into a shout. Listen to it! It is telling you that you are so much better than you ever thought you were. It is telling you that you have been operating under false pretenses. It is shouting the truth to you that most of what you thought mattered…doesn’t! Your life is not to be determined by comparison any more. It’s not about your size, age, background, history or troubles. Your life is to be determined by how much you love yourself and by how much you love others and by how much joy and gratitude you can bring to every moment of your life. That’s it, all of it.

The curtain is going up and the world is clapping and stamping their feet for your appearance. Go ahead out there. You have a lot to tell them.

(C) 2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com

 

Let’s get uncomfortable!

March 28th, 2011

You’re tired. You’ve been tired for way too long and you know it’s negatively affecting you. Giving up or going on like this is unacceptable so what do you do? How do you make a change?

All solutions require change. The trouble is that when we want something in our lives to change, we want one or two parts to change but we want everything else to remain just like it is, thank you very much. If there is change that affects what we don’t want changed, we give up on the whole shebang even though we know it is necessary. “Don’t make me uncomfortable while I’m changing” we pray. That prayer is never answered the way we want it to be. God knows better.

CHANGE IS UNCOMFORTABLE! You have to feel hungry sometimes if you’re going to lose weight. You have to feel and not give in to cravings if you are going to beat an addiction. You have to work real hard and study for more than ten days if you want to learn a new language. You have to take a chance on being terribly uncomfortable if you are going to start exercising, to ask for a raise, to tell a toxic person to get lost, to stand up against abuse, to divorce, to give up a life that seems secure to go for your dream, to ask for what is rightfully yours, to do what you know is right for you. In other words, if you want it to happen, you gotta rise above feeling bad and just go for it.

So how do you get more sleep? You make changes. You start by understanding that it may make you or someone else uncomfortable but it has to change. You deserve to feel better. You deserve to sleep better. Write out on a piece of paper why you are not sleeping and write down as many possible reasons as you can. Start coming up with solutions. It doesn’t matter how far fetched they may seem, it starts the ideas flowing and the more they flow the quicker one that suites you will come along. No, aliens are not going to come down and quiet your house or watch your children (Angels might!)or someone that you are care-taking or stop someone from snoring or drinking but write everything down anyway. If your thoughts are keeping you awake, learn to meditate, learn to control that jabber box. Learn to ask for help as uncomfortable as that may seem.

There are solutions ONLY if you are open to change and the uncomfortableness that comes with it. Be courageous. Be okay with everything changing instead of just that one thing. Know that you weren’t created to suffer. A better life is just an uncomfortable adjustment away. Go for it!
(c)2011 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride www.PatrickInspires.com

 

Action

November 1st, 2010

If you were cold and uncomfortable sitting inside a very cold, dark house and you looked out the window and saw that it was bright and warm and sunny out there, what would you do? You would go outside as quickly as you could! In other words, YOU WOULD TAKE ACTION! We have all been blessed with the knowledge and vision of a better life for ourselves. That might mean more money or better health or following our dreams. Everyone has these visions but only a very small number will see their visions come to life for one reason. The one reason is that most people won’t act. You have always known that you are blessed and gifted. You have always had the feeling that someone was watching over you. All of this is true but what are you going to do with it? An inch worm could cross the country if he kept at it but a person who puts off acting upon their dreams will never progress. Right now decide what is the next step that you can take in a direction of happiness and fulfillment and take it! Can you send for a brochure, buy a book, sign up for a course, turn down a dessert, make a call, write a letter, write down a goal, plan a vacation, make a commitment to improve in any area of your life? Every one of those is action. Every one of those can get you out into the warm sunshine. Go ahead, take even the smallest step and you instantly make today special. It’s the day that you started to take the action that changed everything.

©2010 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride www.PatrickInspires.com

 

Stop Listening

October 11th, 2010

The easiest steps to feeling better begin with taking a quick inventory. 1) How do I feel right now? 2) What is the dominant theme of my thoughts so far today? 3) Is the way I am feeling right now adding to or subtracting from my happiness? 4) Am I willing to change?
We all want to be happy. Yes, even a grouch wants to be happy. The problem is that as soon as we start feeling unhappy, no matter what the reason, we start thinking unhappy thoughts. When we think unhappy thoughts, our mind starts producing an endless number of them. It actually thinks it is helping us by giving us plenty of reinforcements to what we are focused on. If we keep listening to these thoughts we will continue to feel worse and that will generate more thoughts and,well, you get the picture.
The way back to happiness starts when you begin TALKING to yourself in an upbeat way with love and caring. You must stop LISTENING to the voice that has been generated by the unhappy thoughts . You have to become your own cheerleader. You have to be to yourself the great advice giver you are to everyone else. You have to keep talking to yourself in an upbeat way until the tsunami of negative thoughts starts to subside. Then your mind will make the switch and start giving you thoughts to reinforce your new state of mind and Voila! happiness is yours to behold and enjoy once again. Go ahead, give it a try. It’s worth it and so are you.

 

You can’t change them!

September 21st, 2010

You’ve made a few mistakes. You’ve learned many of life’s important lessons and you have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn’t. So far so good. The missing point here is that this is all about you! When are you going to realize that other people feel just as right and fixed in their beliefs as you do? When are you going to realize that YOU CAN’T CHANGE ANYONE? What could someone possibly say that would make you change your ways? Oh, I know, your ways don’t need to be changed. That’s the way most people feel!
Everyone is going to grow in a way that they feel is right for them. That means that your children, friends, lovers and spouses are not determining what they do by how you feel but by how they feel and how they feel is a product of their thoughts and not yours. You can advise them, pray for them, give them books to read but the best way to influence them is by being someone that they wish to emulate. When you are the happiest, most loving, most compassionate person that you can be they MAY want to copy you. There is no guarantee that they will. Whether they choose to copy you or not, know that by being the best that you can be, you will have made a success of the life you have been given and that is all about you.

 

Self Talk

June 21st, 2010

Maybe right now you are worried or maybe you are a little fearful or maybe you feel like you are on the very edge in one or more areas of your life. You know what? You’ve been there before! Oh, I know, that voice inside is telling you that this time is not even remotely like any of those other times, that this time it’s really different, really serious. It’s a lie. The truth is that you have competently handled everything that you have ever had to deal with in this life. You wouldn’t be reading this right now if you hadn’t made it through each and every day so far. The ONLY reason that you are worried or fearful or feel on the edge is because your self talk tells you so and stands steadfast against any evidence to the contrary, including these words.
So, how do you get around that self talk? By changing it! You see, the self talk is fearful right now because you are doing the listening and not the talking. The very second that you decide to do the talking, everything else shuts up. Oh, there will be a bit of resistance and the voice of fear will wait to jump back on the controls the moment you think all is well but with a bit of awareness it can’t happen and even if it does you can switch right back in the blink of an eye. So tell yourself you are wonderful and competent and courageous and powerful and you’ll get through this too. God knows, you’ve got the track record to prove it. Embrace that truth.

©2010 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com