This week was bittersweet for us.  We had the heart wrenching job of saying goodbye to our dog Samson.  Our furry companion bore witness to every significant family memory of the past 16 years.  While we knew his time was coming, the final letting go was hard.  I sang him a lullaby as he died in my husband’s arms, my youngest daughter (now 16), his most loyal devotee, watching on with big tearful eyes. 

We had our first Covid jab and were told of the 50/50 chance of feeling the impact, and true to the statistic, my husband James had all the flu symptoms, and I felt none.

And there was Australia’s amazing Wimbledon victory with Ash Barty taking out the Women’s Singles Championship.  Yet for all her fame and fortune, her character, grace, respect and joy captured the media’s attention.  Refreshingly, she appears to have had as much education on sportsmanship as sports technique.  She speaks deliberately about acceptance, gratitude and humility.  But it was a comment made by her father Robert Barty, that captured my attention.  He spoke of her first coach’s 5 rules to live by, taught to her when she was a young child:

1. be a good person;
2. have fun;
3. be happy;
4. show respect and be respected; and
5. then, if you can play tennis after that, it’s a bonus.”

Replace tennis with whatever your mountain is – maybe you intend to write a book, win a song competition, teach art to kids, volunteer.  The invitation exists to live well.  I believe animals (dogs especially) are a reminder of that.  Don’t you agree?  They love unconditionally and teach us to do the same.   They are fun, show optimism and respect.    

And so, I will take from this week the grace of acceptance and dignity in release.

• What are you letting go of?
• What are you accepting?
• And what are you welcoming in?

You may not control the outcome, or other people’s opinions, or the weather, or Covid, or changed holiday plans.  But you do control what you do next.  And how you greet tomorrow.