Say what? Do I OP and then UD? Speak English Vicki!

Ok, I will.

Do you Over Promise and then Under Deliver?  Perhaps you know right off the bat whether you do this or not. If you don't, here are some questions you could ask to see if this is the case for you? 

• Do you find yourself committing to things and promising that you'll get them done and then not completing them?
• Do you overstate your capabilities and then scramble to try to catch up to what you've promised?
• Do you find yourself committing and saying you'll get something done simply because you don't want to have a conversation about not doing it?
• Is there any part of you that agrees to the over extension of self so that it doesn't disappoint others? (This is a trick question. It is not possible to disappoint other people. What they feel is up to them. You're only responsible for your actions and feelings.)
• Do you overestimate how much can be done in a 24 hour time frame? Sleep is important you know.

By now you get the point. It is so common in our society to agree to do something even when we do not feel like we want to participate. I have found myself in a similar situations many times in the past. I made a commitment to myself a year ago to only say yes to invitations I truly wanted to attend. This can be a meeting, birthday party, a collaboration, or an invitation to hang out. There are endless situations it can be. The important part is being connected to self enough that you recognize when you're agreeing simply to agree and to not make waves. Go authentically or don't go at all. 

When we over promise and under deliver it serves no one. We often feel like we are adding more stress to life, leading to resentment and a good old fashioned pity party. The other person can feel that they weren't heard, that they were lied to, or that you are untrustworthy. Neither side benefits in an interaction like this.  

Besides, don't you know when another person is handing you a line of hooey? Can't you tell when they haven't completed the job or task, called the person they said they would, or researched the information they promised to get to? Of course you can. People aren't as good of poker players as they like to think they are. I don't know about you, but I find it very frustrating to work, live, hang out with someone who isn't present and someone who is over promising to the point of distraction, can't be present. 

I'm going to suggest we do something radical. What if we were honest about what we could manage in a time frame and committed to that? What if we decided to stop bs'ing ourselves and others and say honestly no, I didn't get that done. No, that is not going to be possible in that time frame. No thank you, I really do not intend to volunteer for one more committee. Goodness, thank you for asking, but I would rather not be the matron of honor at your dog's wedding. Hey, it could happen. 

What if, we stopped long enough to ask ourselves what we would like to say in response and hold our space of authenticity and respect for the other person? What if we believed the world was not going to end if we didn't overextend ourselves? I'm telling you, we would have more time for fun if we stopped dancing around subjects. 

It is a very freeing feeling to be so truthful with self that you're able to tap in at a moment's request and respond appropriately. When you know what your guidelines are in life and what matters to you, the gift is being centered and very sure of your yes's and no thank you's. When here, you can determine if the opportunity being presented is one that a little scrambling would pay off and feel exhilarating and so worth it! Or if it doesn't feel good, you can step away from the over promise because you will surely under deliver in an attempt to find balance. 

I recognize that one tendency of over promising is to avoid spending time with self, but that is another whole blog post! For now I will suggest you look at that and see if there is any truth to it and then realize wherever you go, you go so spending time with you is already happening! 

Take into considerations the requests of your time this week and be conscious about how you are answering the requests. Realizing that some are going to be things that may have to be done and that is fine, but what about the ones where you are giving yourself away and not listening to that voice inside that says you don't want to. The excuse of I don't have time is just that, an excuse, when you look at your commitments and weed out the ones that don't light you up. 

Be kind to you when you do this and realize it is a lifelong process of balance and you WILL get it. :)

Easily applying the words no thank you,

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

Most of us are familiar with the statement, raise the bar, meaning to have higher standards, reach a more lofty goal, stretch yourself beyond where you are today. While the premise is good, I have a little issue with the idea and the teaching of that as a way to excel.

You see, often people take this literally and spend their lives reaching for that proverbial bar and never really live life. I love a goal, intention, marker, point to shoot for, personal record, measurement of growth, but I also love being in the moment and squeezing as much out of it as possible.

I see so many people walking through life with the question of what am I here to do? What is my purpose? What can I aspire to? These are great questions, but if you aren't able to stop and listen, what the heck is the point of asking? If you are going to say, yeah, yeah, yeah, but what is my next accomplishment, was it even worth trying in the first place?

I am not suggesting we become a society of slackers, but I am suggesting that we look up and see if we can see the bar. Is is a few inches above your head or is it so far in the distance you can't even see it? Is your next goal something that is attainable in the short term or is it something so far off, like debt free living, a doctorate or a perfect weight that even stretching for it feels hard?

Ask yourself these questions to see where your bar is:

• Do I know what I want in my life? Can I ask for more? (If the answer is no, that is great, you just need a little time to figure this out.)
• Do I put the goals of what I want so far out of reach that it becomes a form of self sabotage? (when they aren't attained you can beat yourself up for not doing it again!)
• Am I afraid to have a bar because that means I may have to ask for more and not be happy with where I am? (It's a cycle isn't it?)
• Do I settle? Do I allow relationships to be one sided (theirs)? Am I in a job that doesn't light me up? Do I believe happiness is for the other person and not me? Their bar is better than my bar. (I'd like to call BS on this one!)
• Do I feel I am worth a bar, and success and happiness? (This one is self explanatory don't you think?  Worthiness, sigh, that little bugger.)
• Can I step back and appreciate the bar that has been there and see it as an ally rather than a foe holding space over my head?

These are simply some methods to help you become aware of where you bar is or if you have one. It is important to want to grow, to want more satisfaction, to aspire to self love. It really is, so what are you waiting for?

Imagine being in a place where that bar is simply a measurement of your own personal happiness. Imagine liking yourself so much the bar is no longer a form of achievement but rather a fun door frame to run up to, jump and smack with satisfaction. High five the bar! Imagine being able to relax and enjoy life and savor the moment of where you are as being enough. What is the sense of having a bar if you can't sit at it an enjoy it once in awhile? 

I realize that the idea of having and doing more is a big message in our society. I'd like to introduce the idea of balance into that. Wanting and having more are a good thing. Making yourself ill in the process is not. Find your balance this week. Use that bar to support you and gently inspire you to grow. Be grateful for where you are and breathe there for just a moment. Nice isn't it? 

Bar none, you are my favorite people, 

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

I love analogies and if I do say so myself, I came up with a brilliant one today. Everyone who is a one is sensitive. It goes with being a soul and a human. We all have feelings, emotions and this amazing ability to feel energy. In fact, our feeling of situations is often where we get the most information even if we do explain it away as logic. Some people feel more than others due to their wiring and souls path. While it is fantastic and a gift, I believe, some don't handle it well. I didn't until I learned  a bit about how to balance energy and create a supportive field.

You see, we are all a bunch of energy walking around as humans. We have a field around us made of many, many bodies called an aura. In this aura are a ton of sensors much like satellite dishes that send information through our system. When someone is really sensitive, crowds, arguments or pressurized situations can be incredibly taxing. Is this you?  Have you noticed this about yourself?  Congratulations!

This field picks up all kinds of debris, so it is important to keep it clean and supported. One way I do this is each day, sometimes a few times a day, I ask to be surrounded by white light and if I am feeling a bit stressed, I ask for gold. I ask Archangel Michael but you can ask whomever, of the angelic or higher realms.  So, you could ask the Archangels, Buddha, Jesus, Source, God or whomever you feel to be your high connection. The surrounding light creates a high vibration that is supportive because it is YOUR energy enhanced. Some may suggest you do this for protection. I don't agree with this as if you are asking for protection, you are lining up with a fearful energy. Why go there? Go to the supportive place always.

One of the things that can happen when someone isn't using the supportive light is an overload of the emotional system. This is usually evident in very reactive people. Those that find a reason to complain and whine about everything. Also those who argue without knowing what the heck they are talking about. Arguing just to argue. Reacting rather than responding. System overload.

So my analogy? Oh yeah, so I explained being absorbent of energy and how important it was to release that energy effectively as a comparison to gasoline and the fumes that come off the gas. Now, bear with me as I am not a chemistry major, but how I explained it was the gas (being sensitive to situations) wasn't the issue, it was the fumes (absorbing way too much without using light or releasing built up energy) that could cause a blow when the match of overload gets struck. BOOM!

What does this mean to you?  Well, it means if you are proactive by asking for that light, daily or more often, and learning what your combustion level is, you can work to dispel that energy through healthy ways rather than through stress or explosion!  Think of how much calmer people would be if they just realized they were in charge of their own sensitivities.

So, do you recognize yourself in these descriptions? Could you help out the universe by accepting you are sensitive and being responsible for where you are leaking energy?  What if you watched your fumes level and didn't let it get to the combustion place?  Not only would you feel more content but you would contribute to an amazing process called balance. That would be lovely and I thank you in advance!

Always traveling the light,

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

Holy macaroni this week has been emotional hasn't it? Anyone else feeling like they've been tossed around in a salad spinner? I have had the most challenging time finding my equilibrium this week. It started last Friday and seems to still be a bit heightened.

I was describing it to a friend of mine and said it feels like the last few years have been a long continuous earthquake and there was a pause for a month or so and now here comes the Tsunami. The beauty of being aware that a Tsunami is coming is you can get your surf board ready.

The energy of these next few days will be sort of like having had a caffeine IV placed and running at full open volume. Regardless if you are a caffeine person or not, the feeling is going to be similar. Now, I personally love my coffee in the morning but the feeling of antsy energy of more than one cup is not a favorite one. What to do with this energy? Well, get active. Give yourself the gift of a conscious list of what you could get done if you had a bunch of inspiration (read: energy!). A Ta Da list.  A to do list is so last century. A ta da list allows you to celebrate what could be done rather than what should be done! Fun right? 

This energy is simply the ushering in of some WONDERFUL supportive energy in the universe. Are you ready? I know I am very ready to feel supported and encouraged. Of course, it is up to each person to be willing to feel good. I know it doesn't make sense, but some want to sit in their story and what has happened to them. The new energy is not supportive of our old wounds but rather the strength we have created in having gone through them. Each will have to make the choice of wanting to be present and being willing to move forward.

It is much like the surfer learning how to be on top of the water. It happens over time as you find your balance. Begin balancing. Begin practicing. No worries, the surf boards have those little ties so you don't lose them in the water should you fall off the wave. Those boards are really your skills you have built in this lifetime and the connective rope is the community and support you have created. If you feel isolated and without community then move those buns again. You are the only one who can create that, stop waiting for someone or a magic pill to do it for you. There is no magic pill, there is you! You can be magical, I know you can.

Be smart, use this influx of energy to start a manifesting of what you would like to see happen in the next few years of your life. Dream big please, like the great big waves that are happening.

It will calm a bit after a few days and then we will be in a higher frequency and in a space of showing up for our lives. There isn't a script, you get to show up on your stage however you would like to but no more hiding behind the curtains. The universe needs your light to become a more loving, supportive, fun place to be. Don't be stingy with your gifts and for goodness sake, stop hiding.

As we assimilate to the higher energies we will have the opportunity to become clear about the people we connect with, that community, and those that are no longer resonating. So many relationships are shifting because of this energy that is coming in and to be clear, we asked for this clarity so don't go blaming it on some unseen force called the universe. You are part of the collective universe so what we experienced has been placed in order by us. Responsibility will be the energy that is called in, as well as, accountability. It is so much fun to be accountable for your stuff. I hope more people realize this over the next few months of the gentle push so they can feel free of their baggage. Feelings are valid, excuses are not.

So, be good to you and others. Drink lots of water, ground yourself and wiggle out any anxious feelings. Energy is neither good nor bad, it simply is, how you work with it is up to you.

I'm going to go spin around like a top now because it feels like I have had a six pack of cola with no food to absorb the sugar. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

So stinking excited for this energy to be here,

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

Well, to be clear, I owe you one if I have ever read for you. I decided a few months ago that I wanted a reading. I have had a challenge in finding someone that one, didn't know me, two, was authentic and three, that would call me back. The universe is so hysterical sometimes. In those moments when I felt I wanted the guidance but perhaps didn't want to listen to my own guides, I would attempt to book a reading with someone I thought would be good, blunt and provide me with some moving forward advice, and it wouldn't go through. Either they didn't call me back, the payment wouldn't take, or the email would go unanswered, even after re-sending. Crazy but I trust that and did a bit of pouting while I waited for the correct alignment.

That alignment happened two weeks ago. To be truthful, it was with someone that a friend had gone to and had told me about several times. I wasn't in a place where I wanted to go to her. Two weeks ago, that snapped into place and I got online to book an appointment. Turned out she had an opening that week as someone had to reschedule. Again, I trust these things.

I went, I had a fantastic session and I came back with some information that true, I already knew, but I had a clear working sense of how to apply myself and to embrace my abilities. Then, I had a few days of holy mackerel, what just hit me?  This is where the apology comes in. It had been so long since I had had a personal experience, I forgot how much of an impact it can make to one's system, beliefs and path. I always do my work with reverence and with the greatest respect of my clients but I had forgotten how much processing goes into these things and haven't done a good job of letting people know that they may experience a wave of energy. So, I'm sorry if I didn't give you the heads up!

One of the things I don't advertise and this practitioner suggested I start letting people know, is when you come to me, you get a whole system reboot. I loved the analogy because I love technology! I am trained in several modalities but find the hands on work to not be my niche.  So many people have told me my hands get too hot so I refrain from scalding people out of principle!  However, I love the distance work and the boost that it can give to one's healing process so when you are in my office, you can be assured you are getting a buy one. get one free session.  I term it as sort of a car wash of sorts. When people leave, or hang up, they are energetically clean and tuned up to where their vibration is the most comfortable. It is something that comes naturally to me so I didn't even consider it to be anything to chat about. Again, insert apology.

Why an apology? Well, because if I am known as the person who will be honest with you about your energy and what I am seeing, I should be honest about this too. I just had to become aware of it first, or rather be reminded that I do it!  It is so natural for me to shift the energy in a room to the highest place that I can forget that not all people know about it or are even aware it is possible. I don't throw my energy the way some people do but it is still nice to let someone know they will be swiffered off, don't you think?

Most people aren't going to have an issue with receiving more than they thought they were coming in for so I figure I am good there but thought in the interest of full disclosure, there you have it!

Each session that I do is an individual experience for me, as well as, the person coming in because no two souls are alike, thankfully. I want the very best for the person in the room and for all the people in my life. Whatever their journey may be.

So, I won't apologize again because now I know to say it ahead of time but in case I have a lapse in memory, there you go....you've been told. This is something to keep in mind regardless of any energy session you experience, that and drink lots of water. :)

Blessings,
Vicki

"If you are trying to find balance in one plate while spinning twenty others, eventually, they will all fall and that will be ok, because then you will truly be able to access the situation at hand." vicki

I heard myself say this to a client last week and thought, well that is pretty good, now do you think you can listen to it Vicki? I have always been someone that does well with a lot going on around me, or so I thought. Once I realized the chaos was causing stress and a feeling of being that proverbial hamster, I knew I had to do something to change how I saw my life. Just because I was busy didn't mean that I was productive or happy about what I was doing and that is what I really wanted, to be happy being busy and being still.

I also realized that the busyness was really a procrastination method of not getting to know myself. If I kept going and putting out fires and making sure everyone else was ok I didn't have to admit I wasn't completely satisfied with myself or my life. Sound familiar?

Now having done this coaching thing for a while now, I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere this way except to more stress and an eventual end of my rope where I hoped there was a knot but a sneaking suspicion, call it intuition if you want, knew there wasn't one. So, I had a meeting with myself and asked just what the heck are you afraid of learning anyway? Once faced I had no real answer, which became my answer. I was afraid of nothing, of there being a nothing, of there being nothing to do, to take care of, that needed my attention or my help. This was where the whole balance conversation came into play. I had to become good with the nothing in order to have something. In order to have that peace I was looking for and that happiness and the space to create the life I really want. I understand energy and know that creating the life I wanted meant there had to be space in the one I had to allow other opportunities to happen.

So, that is what I did, nothing. I did nothing for a whole weekend. A WHOLE WEEKEND! Anyone who knows me well knows this was not easy to accomplish and it wasn't. I chose to use the yin yang symbol as my return point. It represents balance to me so each time my thinking head said "Vicki, there is always laundry to do, blogs to write, classes to create and oh yeah, what about that software you bought to revolutionize your coaching, you could be learning that", my knowing self or soul self or the smarter part of me said, what was your intention? What did you want to create? aahhhh space, aaaaa balance, aaaaaah yin yang.

This is when the picture of the guy trying to balance all the plates came to my minds eye as well and I had a good laugh because if you have all those plates, you do not have focus on any of them. It is not possible. I don't want to be a plate spinner, I want to be a plate connector. I want to know that plate is in my life and that whatever time I had with that plate (you get that the plate is experiences in my life right?) I was present and I was able to connect and enjoy the process without worrying about the potential crashing of another plate next to me.

Now you don't have to drop out of your life and do nothing, although I highly recommend it, but where does your life want to be balanced? Are you even in your life or are you reacting to the current fire and not able to enjoy your experience here on Earth?

What is one thing you could do to bring balance to your day? How about right now you take a deep breath in through your nose, out your mouth with a little sigh at the end. Go ahead, no one is looking. Didn't that feel good? When we breathe like this it aligns the mind, body and spirit, creating balance. Pretty cool, huh? Now in the space that created, what is your spirit asking of you? Do one thing today that will help fill that request and then thank yourself for being a plate connector. :)

The spring Equinox is March 20th for those of us in the northern hemisphere, a perfect time to reflect on balance and to create the support for that balance so you may completely enjoy your spring and summer season.

Happily in a balanced state today,
Vicki

www.vickibaird.com
info@vickibaird.com
www.vbairdconnections.com