#242- The Noble Beauty of a Purposeful Life with Patrick Dougher

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Ever wonder about the meaning of life? In this episode, Andy and Patrick explore this very question from a truly unique and emotional perspective that is certain to encourage you to reexamine your own thoughts on the matter. Patrick shares his power list of 5 things he believes every human is searching for.

Patrick’s list is not a cliched list based on formal scientific research. Instead, it’s based on his personal journey that began as an “unsupervised” child in Brooklyn, New York, in the early 60s and is still ongoing at 60 years of age, shaping him into the luminary he is today.

Patrick’s list is based on hard-earned life lessons as a homeless alcoholic at his lowest point to his soaring success of becoming a recording artist with the likes of Sade, Chuck D (Public Enemy) and Dan Zanes with many other stops in between. With 23 years of sobriety behind him, Patrick puts his philosophy of life on full display through one very poignant story of having his bicycle stolen in this episode. You get the full range of his process in this one story. 

You see that he experiences the full range of human emotion but ultimately returns to his place of equilibrium due to the embeddedness of his own personal philosophy. He has the same initial response that any of the rest of us would have upon learning that something had been taken from us. That we have been violated or disrespected. However, he processes that experience, sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously and returns back to his place of gratitude to get back on track.

A key thread throughout Patrick’s story, whether in childhood or adulthood, is the idea of the inner voice or critic. This voice often tells us we aren’t good enough, nobody loves us, or we can’t overcome this. And in many cases, we accept it at face value. However, Patrick’s response is to take it under advisement and consciously make his own decision.

Patrick shows us that we do not have to accept the inner critic’s assessment. He also makes the point that “the mind is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master.” He believes we have much to unlearn from what the inner critic has convinced us over time. The beauty is that we can!

Today, Patrick has many roles: philosopher, musician, artist, author, and grandfather, to name a few. However, after this interview, I would like to recognize one more role for him. He is a “spiritual being having a human experience.” His understanding of the human condition is uncanny and is derived from the full range of experiences he has had
throughout his journey with people from all walks of life. He has taken that lifetime of experience and formulated an incredibly resilient and awe-inspiring perspective that works for him.

After listening to this podcast, I hope it works for you as well. For additional insight into Patrick’s life, check out the inspiring video featuring him and produced by Green Renaissance (now called Reflections of Life) entitled Am I Worthy? After only a couple of weeks of availability, it has racked up more than 55,000 views and is generating an enormous amount of buzz with more almost 1,400 comments -- a true testament to the power of Patrick's message. Thanks for listening, and please share this episode with others.

Connect With Patrick:
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Please connect with Justine and Michael from Reflections of Life to see their wonderful short films.

Very special thanks to my friend Kevin Nall for his work helping me to produce this e