Lately, I've had this fascinating pain in my left shoulder. Since I am well versed in energetic causes of pain, I did my due diligence to look at all the emotional reasons it could be bothering me so much. I see it as a bit of a treasure hunt. You can actually feel the pain let up when you are close to releasing the issue and tighten when you are ignoring it or brushing it off.  While the emotional and energetic excavation was going on, I supported it with care from my team of keep Vicki thriving practitioners.  As mentioned in a previous blog, it took a lot of practice and re-patterning to be able to allow myself the care necessary to live the life I do being wired as I am.  Part of the team is an over the counter TENS unit.  I love this puppy!

A TENS (Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) unit provides stimulation to the nerve endings that are sending messages to your brain saying "um excuse me, you seem to have some unshed issues here and I'd like to draw your attention to them" and does it well.  In a former occupation, I used to dispense the machines, now I go to CVS and buy one to use at home.  I also receive this when my chiropractor deems it necessary in his office.  Anyhoo, I was using the unit to help my cute shoulder that was trying to help me see my issues in my tissues and it needed a new battery.  When I changed it out, and it didn't work because I had it in backwards, I had an "a ha" moment about the two sides to a battery.

We are all familiar with the positive and negative ends or sides to a battery.  Please don't ask me about a car battery, that still stumps me.  So, this battery that I had to replace had it's positive sign and negative sign.  After I figured out how to get it in the machine.  I thought well, hell, we aren't batteries so why do we divide things up into negative and positive?

I hear on an almost daily basis someone saying "I am trying to be more positive."  "I use positive affirmations and they don't work."  "I tell people I don't want to hear the negative in life."  Well, what if there aren't two sides to how we see our emotions, experiences or challenges?  What if we stopped separating them and cut to the chase of "this is how I feel, this is what it is and this is where I'd like to be."

What is positive and negative anyway?  What I may think of a completely supportive process, another person may think it stinks.  I took my older sister to work out with me one night and while she did very well, as we were leaving she said, "I am never doing that again.  You are insane."  I thought it was very funny and complimented her on her stamina and ability to make a choice.  In this circumstance, there is no side to be chosen. She has every right to not want to do that again and I have every right to enjoy it and do it twice a week. (ok, I don't always enjoy it.  This week was hard!)

• What if instead of trying to quantify our experiences we learn from them, move through them and assessed life from an "I like that place"?
• What if we stopped trying to convince others that if they don't like what we are doing, that we have to discuss it, argue about it or think our relationships are lost causes?
• What if we gave ourselves permission to see all experiences as opportunities to assess our I like that meter and adjust accordingly?

Yes, some experiences are going to hurt.  They are going to really, really stink but most of the time, those are the experiences we look back on and say, wow, I am totally amazeballs and lived to tell of it.

For this week, as we celebrate living in this amazing United States of America (for those of you who are in other countries, celebrate your home as well) why don't we see how fortunate we are, how fantastically diverse we are and what opportunities we have to grow everyday without restriction.  No matter your circumstances, you are the only one who can restrict your thoughts and can limit yourself to descriptions of positive and negative.  There are so many colors in between, why aren't we using them all?

• A couple of statements to help you; "I forgive myself for believing life only comes in positive and negative descriptions."
• "I give myself permission to see the amazing opportunities in my life."
• "I choose to be open to appreciating all of my experiences and what I can learn from them." 
• "I am learning to see my world as open and expansive."
• "I am so grateful to my forefathers who believed anything is possible."

I wish you the best of weeks as you open up to having more sides than a watch battery.

Charging through life,

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

"Inch by inch, row by row, I'm gonna make this garden growAll it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile groundInch by inch, row by row, someone bless these seeds I sowSomeone warm them from below 'til the rain comes tumbling down." David Mallett

Remember these lyrics most known from Peter, Paul and Mary? Inch by inch, row by row? It has a great message doesn't it? Let's take it inch by inch and see what happens. Something is bound to grow from that isn't it? Something is going to spring up, maybe where we least expect it, but something will create a row. 

As I write this another song comes on the radio that is about growing. The Rose sung by Bette Midler. It seems the universe is conspiring to get us to remember seasons and the beauty in the steps of change. A rose doesn't start out as a wonderfully aromatic, appealing to the eye flower. It starts as a seed, perhaps carried by the wind to it's new location or perhaps planted there by a kind hand. Either way it is one that is in darkness for quite a while before it reaches the light and is seen by others. It doesn't give up under the dirt because no one is patting it on the back or validating that it is worth being here. It goes about its process of growth and stretching toward that sun and knowing that the rain is really what will nurture it into the gorgeous being it was meant to be.

Why do you think plants and nature are so patient, resilient and accepting of change and people aren't? Have we forgotten that there really is a plan, one that we put in place long before we were a plan in our parents lives? Have we lost trust in the expansion of ourselves and the pure magic of being here in this realm?

I wonder these kind of things all the time. I wonder why we can't just be in the place of admiration of others and this amazing planet we belong to. Why do we gravitate to the negative and fear place? I know a lot of that is taught and we are good learners, but what if there was a way to change that way of thinking and being and be more like nature where things are not so much questioned but adored?

 Have you ever seen a cat lying in the sunshine? The pure joy that is there to be experienced by even those watching is a miracle in itself but are you stopping to witness these miracles? Are you allowing yourself to be part of the amazing process that is life or are you being carried by whatever wind is blowing in this moment? Do you look at rain as a bad thing and something here to personally piss you off or something that is a blessing, one that is nurturing the rose that is not questioning it's journey, but rather experiencing it?

I know change happens a little at a time. I am quite fond of the expression baby steps make lasting difference. Just like you learned to be in fear, you can learn to be in trust of yourself and this amazing journey you are on. Sure it takes practice but so did learning to walk and you did that!

Take today and look to the beauty in the world. Allow your viewfinder to locate the wonder of how this whole life thing works. Take a little of that personal power back and decide how you want to feel. Embrace the wind but for goodness sake, don't let yourself be a passive passenger on this thing called life. It is too precious to waste on complaining. As we learned in the last post, you can either embrace the fertilizer of life or you can sit in your own stuff. Personally, stinky energies are not attractive to me so I'll be planting things big time this week. Care to join me? You can do it inch by inch, row by row, working at your own speed, but do something that moves you toward the harvest you would like to see in your life. I'm sure your garden is there waiting for you to be a part of it. Will you?

Blissfully impressed with this life process,
Vicki

"Being thankful isn't about taking inventory of what is in your life at any given moment. It is a way of being in your life in any given moment."vb

I do love this time of year. I love every time of year because we have amazing seasons here, but this year I am especially grateful for November. The last two Octobers have really been challenging and I was not sad to see this years pass by and segue into November. I am one of those odd ducks that really does believe that everything happens for a reason and if I am aware enough, I can see it and move through the parts that are a little squishy, faster and with more ease. 

I keep reading how everyone is thankful. Thankful for the week, the holiday, the snow, the sales, the vacations, the time with family, the coming hibernation (although I kick into high creative gear in the winter...I know...odd duck.) and the list goes on. I am so happy that people are grateful and being conscious of being thankful, but couldn't we do it every day? Couldn't we see what is there for us to be thankful for? Of course we could, but will we, that is probably the best question to ask.

Will you join me in a daily expression of thankfulness? Will you allow yourself to look around and be grateful for what you have in your life? Really grateful not just that platitude we post on facebook or the I'm fine that we give people when they ask. Really grateful for the ability to breathe and to be invested in life and to show up on a daily basis to be all we can be in this body, in this lifetime.

It really doesn't take a lot of time and I promise you, it takes less energy than complaining and ALL of us find the time and energy to do that. So, this is my challenge to you for this week. Every day, several times a day if you would like, find something to be grateful for and acknowledge it. Give it a high five or simply smile and know that you have the best secret ever; gratitude leads to more things to be grateful for. Amazing isn't it?

I am thankful for all of the experiences of these last two years and proud to know somewhere deep down I knew that lamenting wasn't going to get me anywhere but clicking into who I really am and being silly and enjoying the fact that life is everywhere would.

I am also thankful for all of you. However I have come to know you or even if we  have never met. The world does not exist without each organism offering its presence. That is very cool to me and I appreciate whatever balance your energy brings to this greater whole.

I wish you the best this week has to offer you and more!!!!!!!!

Greatly filled with gratitude,
Vicki

www.vickibaird.com