Letting go of fear and stepping into who you truly are.

I lost a really good friend recently. He was covered in fur and did not always have fresh minty breath, but he taught me so much. He taught me the meaning of purpose.

He also gave me the gift of knowing what it was like to receive unconditional love. He loved me more than he loved himself. He was faithful, loyal and had an unwaivering need to protect.

But most of all he knew how to take risks to be true to himself. He was a Beagle so he was born to sniff out food and eat it. There were times he knew that if he followed through with a plan of eating something he wasn't supposed to, there would be consequences. Not the least that he may be sick (recent Christmas chocolate proved that.) My partner and I have a saying " Please forgive me for it is in my nature." It was definatley in Milo's nature to be who he was.

The most profound journey we shared togther was walking the line of fear. He was attacked a few years ago and it was quite distressing for both of us. Since then taking him for a walk and exposing him and I to other dogs has been difficult. But more and more with my partner's help I was shown that I had to let Milo figure this out for himself. The more I let him trust his own instincts and boundaries, the more we would fight this demon of fear together.(I have my own personal issues of fear , but that is a whole other story).

We have had many beautiful walks together down south. The best one was on New Years Day this year. The weather was beautiful and we said hello to every dog and family we came accross. We went and got a coffee and a young boy gave him a dog biscuit. We sat together at the water's edge and looked out accross the horizon. Not one feeling of fear anywhere. I felt a sense of calm and thought, "We we did it Milo, we did it."

The very next day Milo couldn't jump and showed signs of Vestibular Disease. It seems the cause was a brain tumour.

He hung on for 12 days till my partner was able to get back and we could say goodbye to him together. It was as if he was saying to me. " I will always love you , but I have fullfilled my purpose with you and my job here is done. I have other work to do."

Even though my heart has been breaking, I know you have other work to do. So in honour of you my dear sweet boy, I am going to move out of my comfort zone and step into who I truly am. My purpose is to help people and guide them to find their true selves. I have known that for a while. So with Milo by my side I will become my authentic self and fufill my life's purpose. Hope you can join me on my journey.