This past year I decided I might like running. I'd like to say this is the first time I've questioned my sanity, but it isn't and won't be the last, but nevertheless, this was this years challenge. I like a good challenge. Something that stretches me and isn't always easy but I know is attainable at some level. So, running it is.

There is a discussion in running circles about which is best, the straight out and back path or the loop. Typically I am a loop person because, quite frankly, if I have the option to turn around and go back easily, I just may do that. The loop ensures I will go all the way around to get back to my starting point. The longer the loop, the better as it means I again, won't give up earlier. See a pattern here? Yeah, it's good to know thyself.

So, on my latest and longest run I was thinking about the brilliance in my loop plan. The loop gave me an opportunity to see roads I haven't explored on my side of town and it also gave me time to say to myself, "what the hell were you thinking?" Now we (my legs and I) have to go all the way around to get back home! My legs often question my brain and the lungs chime in at times too. It is quite the dialogue. So, rather then lament on the mileage to go, I decided to write this blog in my head while on the road.

The looping thought process, or repetitive as it is more commonly known, is one that many people get into on a regular basis, myself included. It is learning to see the loop for what it is and decide on a straight out and back track which often produces a calm feeling and moving forward. The loop process is one that I believe we create to fool ourselves into thinking we are actually doing something. Well, thinking is something but when it isn't tied to some kind of action, it is a time consuming and often confusion proposition.

What do you find yourself looping about? Most of the time it is something you can't do anything about anyway, right? Another persons actions, an experience in the past, or whether or not your favorite show will be extended this season. Not all looping thoughts are majorly life impacting, in fact, most aren't at all except to give the illusion that you are living.

So, which is your preference? To loop or straight out and back? Here are some suggestions to deciding that conundrum:

• First become aware if you are have a loop process. Any thought that is reoccurring and feels limiting or stuck is an unsupported loop and time to untie that puppy! For example: constantly running your bank balance in your mind, or the lack of a balance. Playing old conversations as you remember them over and over. Playing conversations that haven't even happened over and over. The should list: I should do this or I should do that. Looping. 
• Next, be nice to you and acknowledge you are having one and ask if there is anything you can do to help it be supportive. Can you take an action, can you bring in more income, call someone and actually have the conversation or redirect your head to a task that has nothing to do with the looping thought. 
• If you have a challenging time re-directing, you can call me and we will re-pattern the thought process or you could reach out to someone helpful to assist you in shifting. 
• Realize that the looping thought process is a habit and new habits can be formed much like the ones that are there that aren't supportive. 

Your mission this week, should you choose to accept it, is to be aware of when your head wants to do the loop, acknowledge it and step away from the track! Choose one of the suggestions above or utilize your own tools and get on that straight out of the loop path. 

Someone get the car. I'm contemplating another run. I may need a ride back. 

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

Then you must be driving in western Massachusetts! Badumpbump! Literally, bump. We are fortunate enough to have pothole season that follows winter and comes right before mud season. You thought there were only four seasons? How fun is it that we have so many here?

I was driving this am to get fuel, aka coffee, and I thought of the parallel between the ruts in our roads and the ones we can get into in our lives. They are pretty similar. Hit one just right and it can take out the undercarriage of your car (literal) or your body (life). Then will come the repair cost or emotional turmoil. Once that is walked through there is the debt it incurs on the checkbook or the energy leak that happens when we give a story too much attention. Phew, who knew one little rut could do all that damage? I would imagine the mechanic does, as do I, when I see people beat themselves up for hitting the rut in the first place!

Cars as a metaphor for our lives is not a new concept but doesn't it feel good to use an external example to understand what may be going on with self? Anyone who has done a class or session with me knows I LOVE metaphors. They are so handy. They give a bit of distance from a situation and can allow the person to see their situation as something that is not so personal thereby helping to come up with a solution.

We are a quarter of the way through the year already. Can you imagine? I think back to the beginning of the year and the plans I had for this first quarter. Some I have followed through on and some are in the ongoing pile. I've assessed if they still belong there and the ones that don't, have gotten tossed. Do you ever take the time to look at where you are today and what aligns with you? Alignments aren't only for cars that hit big bumps you know.

So, have you hit a rut? Do you feel like you are inside a big ole pot hole and could use a rope to pull your buns out of there? Or perhaps a ladder and you can climb out on your own power. How fun would that be? I know you can do it.

Look around you and see if there is a workaround to this rut. Is there a way to travel around the tendency to get in your own way?  Could you speak to a coach, a therapist, a Belief Specialist perhaps? :) Could you pick one item to take care of and feeling the momentum of that, move on to another? It really does work to create a list, prioritize and work off the list.  It may seem scary at first, but organized energy always feels good.

For this week, what if you looked at that rut as an indication of where great movement could happen? What if you saw it as a tool of redirection, go around the pot hole, and focus, don't hit the pothole!  There is always another way to look at a situation. It takes creativity and sometimes bravery but once you shift, it will carry it's own momentum and will feel supportive.

If you need a little help navigating the ruts of life, give me a call. If it is truly your car, well, I have a great mechanic I can suggest!

Appreciating the redirection of a rut,

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

Weird. I heard this word more times this week then I think I ever have in my lifetime. It was used in several different contexts, but most often it was used as the person was describing themselves or what they believed, and not in a favorable way.

Since I love words and I have become extremely sensitive to their vibrations and meanings for individuals, it stuck out to me.  When it was being used to describe the person, I asked them to stop their sentence right there. This may seem rude to interrupt but I didn't want them to create a habit of self judgment any more than they already had.

Weird, by definition, is to suggest something is supernatural or uncanny. It also means of strange character and fantastic. An ancient description from Scotland refers to weird as a noun and as being someone's destiny.

So, to a certain extent, we can say someone calling themselves weird isn't such an un-supportive belief but when it is said with a tone of condemnation, I don't believe the psyche and body receive it as a positive thing. The influence we have on ourselves through our words is amazing. Take one day and be aware of the statements you use with others and then the ones you use with yourself. It's no wonder people grapple with depression and low self esteem the way we knock ourselves down on a daily basis.

When you consider we all have different views on subjects and life, to use weird as a comparative doesn't make sense either because what one may find supernatural another may see as an everyday experience.  People have assumed many times that I have dealt with a lot of judgment because of the abilities I have but I really haven't.  I don't see how I am wired as being anything but how I am. So if someone else thinks what I do is weird or I am, it is their definition of weird, not mine and they can have it.

What words do you use to diminish yourself?  Who are you trying to convince when you do this, someone else or yourself?  Can you feel how awful it lands in your body? I wonder what we are all afraid of if we created the habit of self support rather than sabotage. Would we suddenly cease to exist if we thought highly of ourselves? Would we go poof if, oh my goodness, we lived up to the amazing beings we are and didn't worry about what others thought of that?

I'm going to suggest that this week you become aware of how you talk to yourself and then attempt to shift it. Enlist a buddy if that would help. They can hear how you speak and reflect back to you a supportive way of phrasing.  Choose wisely. Remember when you are observing that this isn't a pass/fail test. This is simply becoming aware so you can change anything that isn't helping you feel amazing. There isn't an award for being a self saboteur, so let's stop competing, shall we?

Wonderfully, engaging, intelligent, radiant, dandelions, ok that is weird, or at least the acronym I am going with from now on!

May you catch the wind with your wishes,

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

One of the questions I hear a lot is "what is my life purpose?". People so want to know why they came here and what they are meant to do. I take the inquiry seriously and offer reverence for the question and the person because I know how exhausting it can be to wonder this. Then I give the same answer to everyone because we all have the same life purpose in my humble opinion and that is to arrive at self-acceptance.

It sounds a bit self serving at first doesn't it? However, if you ask yourself what is more challenging on the long term prospect of being a human, acceptance of others or acceptance of self, what comes up?  Yup....self.  Being able to accept others, we could all do that with time and growth but of self, yikes!

So, in the question of life purpose...all the same for when we are self accepting, the love for everything is magnified and we will naturally appreciate others when we appreciate self and stop looking to others to do it for us.  Peace in the valley, I am telling you!

The path to this purpose is as varied as every being on this beautiful planet we have. (I'm not ready to move to Mars.) The path consists of what we've learned previously about ourselves, what we intend to learn moving forward and how we will apply all of this knowledge and help others with their path.

There is very little doing to this life purpose thing. Even by asking what am I here to do, it becomes an external process.  Like when I do something that is big enough I will feel that I have found my purpose.  It doesn't have to be so big and unattainable. The human tendency to make things so big so we can beat ourselves up getting there and then again when it doesn't manifest. Amazing isn't it?  Let's make something as limiting as wondering what my WHOLE life purpose is.  Why not in this moment?  What am I doing purposefully? What am I doing with all of my presence?

A gift I have received from doing sessions is, once I am in and tuned up, the building could fall down around me and unless the firemen are coming in with ax in hand (this actually happened once!), I keep on trucking with whatever is happening on my movie screen. Now, you don't have to focus that much but a bit less phone and computer and boob tube as my mother used to say and a bit more asking self what does life mean to you and how can you be moving in the direction of self acceptance would be fantastic.

This is one of the reasons I got so excited about the Belief Re-patterning. It takes those "I want to like me but don't know how" messages and switches them to "hey, I may just rock at this lifetime's thing".  If rocking isn't where a person is ready for, well, it eases one into an I like myself a little and I am going to expand on that NOW!

You know you can't get off that life path thing right?  There is no way to, so let's lighten up about that process too.  Anything you are going through or participating in is adding to the recipe of you. You didn't miss out on anything and you didn't screw anything up so much it can't be shifted. Be nice to you and start the process of what you really came here to do...love you.

I can't say I love you as I haven't met you all but I bet you are pretty cool and I would like you a lot,

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

This week was get those corporate taxes in people, week. I am so grateful to my accountant (the amazing Barry Clairmont) for the sense of ease I have around my yearly taxes. For some this can be a really stressful time but if you surround yourself with the best, it takes the pressure off. I don't have to know all the ins and outs, I simply have to do my part and make sure I am documenting my income and expenses and pay my taxes like the responsible business owner I am.

As I was walking back from my appointment yesterday I thought, wow, I am really proud of myself. I managed to create a year of profit in my business (still not sure why it isn't in my savings account but that is a class for another day I guess.), pull a paycheck (woo hoo), become certified in a wonderful technique, while continuing to pay off the store and finding some sort of balance within myself physically and emotionally. Dude! That's a lot!

I am patting myself on the back. I am doing that because I don't think we do it enough. Oh, we will brag about what we have acquired and what new technology we are using but not about what we've learned about ourselves. Why is that? Fear? Vulnerability? Not sure what you would speak about? How about the shear resiliency we have as beings? When I look back at the last few decades of my life I think, how the hell did I make it through that without losing my marbles? I don't ask that in a woe is me way, I ask it in a wow, that's amazing way. It is also a way to support myself as I move through the inevitable changes that will happen this year.

One thing is for certain for all of us, change will happen. How you respond to that change determines if you enjoy the process or if you get all twisted up in it. One of my favorite sayings is change is inevitable, struggle is an option. I opt not to struggle. Sometimes this may look like I am not engaging or that I am allowing others to have their way but who cares? Ultimately how great my life is is determined by how I feel while in the life and am I really going to benefit by getting upset about how someone else is acting or living their life?

How resilient are you? Do you bounce back wash after wash? Do you move forward with each challenge or do you sit in your issues and allow them to absorb into your tissues? Being resilient isn't about looking for drama or challenges. It is about realizing you can depend on you and in many ways, you rock!

What have you done lately that you can use as an anchor to affirm to yourself that you do rock? All actions that are supportive count. Be willing to pat yourself on the back. Most of us are not going to get a head so big it won't fit through the door. A little belief in self goes a long way. If you have a hard time with this, call me, I will help.

So, as you see the shoots of grass coming up this year or the flowers pushing through the winters edge to bring spring around or the summer turning to winter if you are in another hemisphere than I, acknowledge that resilience too. It is a reminder of what you have inside too.

Springing forward into this life of mine,

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

...you may want to be willing to act on what you are wishing for. I have been hearing this song all morning. The original lyrics were included but my head asked what is our part in this whole star relationship? Are we merely the wishers or is there a part we are to play in the interaction?

It seems pretty evident that we have to play a part in making our dreams come true otherwise we would be walking around in a universe of instant manifestation and confusion. Thank heavens that doesn't happen. I don't know about you but I know I have wished for something in the spur of a moment and later thought, oh my goodness girl, you do NOT want that. Think about something you wanted to have and if it were to have shown up instantly, how it would impact who you are today.

I am grateful to have the relationship with my clients that allows me to see their life experience over years. Because people are so diverse I get to experience the manifestation on so many levels of their lives. Some are asking the same questions years later while others are in amazing places they could not have imagined years before. The difference seems to be what happens after the wishing space. We all wish, we all want and while we do move at various paces, movement is the key.

Are you wishing on that star but expecting the cricket to do the magic wand action to create what it is you are desiring while you sit in expectation? Sure, the benefit of being a human is the dream aspect but if you aren't willing to do the movement after the wishing you can expect to be asking for very similar things in years to come. If that is fine with you, then awesome, go you!  However, it is within the human condition and soul to always want more. Somewhere we got confused and read this as only materialistic items and while they are great, we must include spiritual, emotional and physical selves in there too. Wanting more, dreaming and wishing are fantastic! How can you join in the fun though so you aren't expecting someone to drop it down in front of you already wrapped?

We've all wished someone would change and be what we want them to be. We've all thought if they just do that, I will be happy and have it all. When in fact this is not true. The wish is great, go for it, but there will still be an emptiness if you don't realize that the one that has the power is self.

So, if you were to wish on a star right now, what would you wish for? Hold that feeling of the wish for a moment. Let it be there. Feel the excitement of it. Now, what action can you take to help that wish come into fruition? Think small. Small movements add up to big results with consistency. What could you do in this moment to move that idea from wish to tangible?

For years I wished I was active and fit but until I moved my arse that wasn't going to happen. It didn't happen overnight. It is still in action everyday when I make a commitment to move said arse a bit more. Little steps add up.

It is empowering to know you have a choice in how you would like your life to be. Wish big and be willing to follow through. It's ok to be nervous and excited. If one wasn't when change was happening I would be concerned. When we decide to add action, it turns down that nervousness.

Basically, we all have a choice. We can sit around and wish things to be fantastic and full of glitter or we can lament about how they aren't that and continue to manifest challenge. Which are you going to choose?

By the time you read this I will have taken my first spin class. Nervous? You bet. Concerned for my arse?  Yup.  Doing it anyway? Of course. Life isn't about wishing on a star, it's about reaching for them.

Stretching as far as my soul will take me,

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

Have you ever watched a child with a flower for the first time or experienced their joy in what we consider the simplest things, like a belly button? Ever watch how happy a cat gets with a box or bag?  Have you ever explored a bit beyond where you were planning to go and found a fantastic restaurant or view? All of these things have an element in common. Curiosity. The desire to explore comes first, then the courage to try out the new experience and then the happiness of the moment as a result of that courage.

We all have this curiosity within us. Thankfully, we are always asking from a soul level for more experiences. More chances to grow, to learn and to stretch who we are. This is inherent within all of us. Every soul wants to expand to it's greatest expression. As physical beings, we can feel cramped and cranky when we aren't allowing ourselves to join that soul energy and grow. Sort of like wearing a jacket that is way too small and restrictive. Unfortunately, many stay in this space and don't realize they can get a jacket that fits and even has room to grow!

The shopping process is pretty easy for that jacket, we simply have to be willing to ask questions. Questions of ourselves, our path, the people in our world and the universe as well. I see so many people who are afraid to ask questions. Perhaps questions were not encouraged in their past and they need help learning and that is fine.  But when that door is opened and questions allowed, the whole person will soar!

What is your belief around asking questions? Are you able to do it in any situation? Can you admit you don't have to know it all and get excited to learn more?  See how I did that there? Lots of questions!

One of my favorite questions to ask is "what is the message here?" Another good one is; "do I need more information?"  Between feeling like we are supposed to know it all (not possible) to the tendency to want a drive-thru experience (too fast) we rarely slow down enough to be contemplative.

Where are you missing that in your own life?  Perhaps it is the asking of what do I want? Be excited about the potential answers. Be brave in your exploration and for goodness sake, be curious.

Amazing things happen when we allow the questions to come and not fear the answers. If you have a hard time moving from that fear place, remember a time when you did something you didn't think you could do.  Use this to remind you that you can do anything if you are willing to step to the edge of the question.  For example, if I had let the first two times I ever drove keep me from trying again, I would have walked A LOT of miles over the years. Trust me, it wasn't pretty. It's pretty funny now, but then, nope, not to me and I am sure not to the guy driving the milk tanker coming at us. (You are welcome for that visual!)

When we question what we know or believe, we can only become more sure of our path because we either affirm what we know or we move closer to what we would like to know.  Either way it is a win win.

Ask yourself when presented with situations this week if you agree? Would you do it differently?  Do you want to know more before making a decision?  The fascinating thing about asking questions of oneself is it brings you closer to you. Isn't that fun? If your answer is no, come see me. :)

Grateful I will never run out of questions,

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

Labels do serve their purpose. It's great to know what is in my food, how to wash my sweater or what bathroom to use but for people they can be a sticky issue. (pun intended)

One as benign as being labeled a sensitive person can be challenging. I see it is a compliment but I didn't always. I took it personally because I felt so deeply and had a mouth to go with those feelings and not always a developed delivery system! I've seen people use it as an excuse. It is not, in my book by the way, an excuse.  It may be how you are wired and that is fantastic, but to use it as a reason to bail on life is not ok.  Learn how to be accepting of that sensitivity and use it to increase your happiness quotient.

There are so many labels placed by those who raise us, teach us or advertise to us. Why would you self label on top of that? Once you become conscious of how you are talking to yourself and what you are calling you, the desire to label goes out the window and you become you. Wonderful in all your glory. How freeing would that be?

Having said that, it is often necessary to label services. How would we know where to get our oil changed, what food a restaurant serves or what Dr offers Chiropractic services (shout out to Dr. Belanger who always re-aligns me!)?

I have been challenging myself to come up with a concise descriptor of what I do as "helping people to achieve a state of happiness and understanding of their path while being able to create the life they would love to be living through my intuitive, coaching and trained abilities" is really challenging to put on a business card. The ironic part being if you came to me, I could nail this down in minutes and have you on your way with a plan that is in alignment with you and applicable. Oh, the humor of the human experience.

So, I asked myself what it is that I love so much about my work and I came up with "I LOVE helping people believe in themselves and life again." I can see your full light and abilities but if you can't, me seeing them doesn't amount to much more than labels themselves, right? I can tell you how creative you are, how smart, loving, funny, amazing, intuitive, blessed, analytical, or healthy among others, but they would be my labels I was giving you to stick on you. Especially if you were unable to recognize them for yourself.

Now, this may work for a bit. Have you ever shown up or put in more effort because someone believed in you? Of course you have, we all have. It is short lived though because it is borrowed, it is not inside. When those feelings and knowings are inside, everything is possible. I've known this for years but had a challenge putting my finger on how to describe it. For months I have heard two words and ignored them. What? I'm in process too.

Two weeks ago though, I decided I had to run with the label I was hearing so here goes; Belief Specialist. This is what I do. I help people to believe in themselves, the universe and others. I'm really good at it too because I love it and I've put the time into learning how to help on both the energetic and literal levels. I blend the intuitive with the practical knowledge to create forward movement and most of all, belief in the life process. This label I am good with.

How does this change the work I have been doing? Well, it doesn't in the overall picture. I will continue to do sessions using whatever benefits the client while assisting them in seeing they have power too. When I show up as my whole self, I can help others to do so as well. How fun is that?

The other benefit of this label are the initials. Belief Specialist.... BS. Come on, that's funny! I am the BS that doesn't bs. Honesty and transparency have always been important to me so I have somewhat cultivated a reputation of no bs. I love that too because fake is exhausting and I don't feel I am serving anyone by sugarcoating or giving them what they want to hear. I know for me when someone is willing to tell me like it is (thank you to the friends who do this with me!), I grow.

So, if your labels are bugging you and your belief systems (another bs, although some can be very supportive ) are challenging you, know there are methods to relieve the pressure and create an amazing life.

I thank you for being with me on this journey of clarity and for providing me the opportunity to help you learn that you have beliefs, that some are not supportive and can be released and that you can create those that are and rock this lifetime!

What if you believed in you. Imagine what could happen?

Imagining my life helping you,

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com