I've always had the benefit of being a good sleeper. Regardless of what may be going on in my life, I can shut down and get some sleep. It's not always a restful sleep as my acupuncturist likes to point out, but it's sleep. The time to power down and close the world out for awhile.

I am very grateful for this ability as trying to sleep after you've slept with someone for as long as Howard and I did, can be tricky.  Granted, the snoring is less but it's still different. I had never considered this before. I hadn't considered many things before that I do now. There can be a gift in experiencing such a big life event if one is willing to be open to them. I find myself amazed at what I didn't know before, that I am learning now, even as I try to navigate this newest adventure.

So, as I traverse this challenge of waking up and remembering every day, as if it's the first day after his passing, that the dude isn't downstairs drinking coffee (he was ALWAYS the early bird in our house), I got curious about this process.

Was it the waking up that was challenging or was it the smack of reality that hits shortly after?  A few mornings in a row I did my own experiment to see which it was. Fortunately, it doesn't happen every day but enough that I could grasp the real issue. It wasn't the waking up or even the smack in the gut that was so hard, it was the realization that I had to get up no matter what was going on. I had a life to life on this side and laying in bed was not the type of life I wanted. Once I grasped this concept, waking up became less challenging.

Why was it easier to wake up after this awareness? Well, it became similar to any other day of my life. Like when the kids were little and I was so exhausted I didn't know if I could hoist my you know what out of bed or when we were running the store and working eighty hours a week and still had to open, ya just get up.

Not unlike when someone goes through a break up in a relationship, a change of vocation, a relocation, a passing of a loved one or any other millions of scenarios that effect us, we have to get up. Before we can get up, we have to wake up and we have to be willing to wake up.

Waking up isn't all about the sleep process. What occurred to me was the waking up was relevant to those scenarios I was talking about previously. Perhaps one has to wake up to the fact that their partner is not the type of person they want to be with or maybe they realize that the job they've been doing for decades really sucks and they don't want to do it anymore. Maybe it's realizing that family may be DNA related but the dysfunction is something you no longer are willing to tolerate. Whatever it is, waking up to the truth is a whole lot less taxing when you realize you already have the strength and the history of getting up every day.

What do you need to wake up to today? What have you been avoiding because you are more afraid of the sock to the stomach feeling than the memory that you have dealt with many others and got up after. When you remind yourself that you have indeed succeeded in waking up in other areas, the new experiences don't carry as much fear. Build that confidence by reminding yourself of all you have accomplished in the past. It really does help.

If you are someone who is afraid of waking and getting up, come see me, I'll help you shift that because this life isn't all about falling flat on your face and whining about it and staying on the floor, it's about getting up and saying, heck yeah, I've got this!

Sleeping is great but give me the awake time so I can rock this lifetime,

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

Today's blog will be simple; appreciate what you have. I woke up this morning to a view that had me wondering if I had been placed in a snow globe over night, really, really cold temperatures and a dog who is used to a longgggg walk on Sunday's. Don't ask me how he knows what day it is, but he does and he is not happy with the turn of events. I heard myself say to him, "dude, you have to learn to accept and appreciate this situation. You don't have to like it, but being upset isn't going to help you any." Now, some would say I was talking to myself and to some level, I agree, but he knows what days are daycare days, long walk days and how to tell us he'd like a frozen bone to chew on by sticking his nose on the freezer, I figured he could handle this concept. He pouted for a bit, then found his favorite ball and played catch by himself for a bit then laid down for a nap.

I wonder how many of us humans could be as accepting. There is an opportunity to learn in any situation if we are open to seeing it. Supposedly humans are adaptable and I guess our society would show that but lately we've gotten wimpy. The whining and pouting is at amazing levels as if Mother Nature owes us something and should only create weather we would like to see. To me adapting requires our participation. We must be willing to look at what we are offered; bone chilling temperatures and no walk, and adapt to the news; grab a book, write a letter, clean your closet, dance in the living room, whatever your adaptation looks like, do it!

In order to adapt, it would help if we appreciated what we have. Sure, it is cold here in the Northeast, but if you have a roof over your head, sweatshirts to put on, food in your belly or a favorite ball to play with, you have it pretty good. Even if the situation is trying at the moment: a diagnosis, a bill that is overdue, a relationship that is ending, you have the ability to appreciate and adapt. Step back and see it without the poor me view finder and please, I beg you, lose the drama.

One could see all the snowfall we have had as an abundance that is available in the universe and use it to inspire. Each day we have really is a gift and the ones wasted in whining and complaining do not get recycled so you can do them again in a higher vibration. They have passed. Sure, there will be another lifetime but do you really want to waste this one banking on that the next one will be one of joy? It won't if you don't learn to have it here, I promise you. Part of the adaptation of the soul is to work in progression, so if you don't learn to appreciate now, I guarantee you will get to attempt it again.

• What could you appreciate about today in your life?
• What is one thing you have been whining about, be honest at least to yourself, that really isn't a big deal but you are making it one?
• What if today really was your last day, would you want to go out whining and complaining? Some will, leave them to it. Be brave enough to take your own path.
• If being joyful for self is a challenge, how could you bring this to others while you learn how to do it for self?

It can be an easy path to go the way of griping and being annoyed but easy isn't always the best way. What if you gave yourself permission to appreciate how powerful this universe is and therefore how powerful you are? You have the power to influence how your life goes and to teach a way of being that is grounded in appreciation. Amazing isn't it?

I appreciate you reading this and wish you a wonderful day and life of observation, appreciation and adaptation. Love the snow globe you are in. Like all shaken globes, the wonder is in what the shaking creates. A whole new view. A way of choosing how you would like to be. Hmmmm, you had that all along, didn't you?

In amazement of the size of the snowbanks in our globe,

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com