Appreciate What You Have NOW - Day 326 of 365 Days to a Better You

My apologies for being away, my friends. We've been traveling in Hawaii. Enjoying the incredible natural beauty here is not always conducive to blogging.Yesterday my wife and I made one of the hardest decisions we've ever had to make. We had put our beloved black lab Mia to sleep. She was 151/2 years old. She'd fought the good fight,including a cross country move back to Kansas City this year.To say that Mia was loved would completely understate the truth. She and I had a special bond formed when she was a puppy and I was her one constant while my wife traveled for her job. Our whole family and many of our friends knew and loved Mia. She returned that love in abundance like the kind, gentle soul she was.Death, damn you, is the constant affliction of the living. The relationships - human and animal - we form here in these brief years or decades belie the cosmic journey every living thing is on.Despite the fact I saw Mia as my true companion for these years, she's on her own journey and so are all of us. We touched for a few moments of this game of time and space. We formed a bond that will be forever, but we are all spinning along this path like stars swirling around a galaxy.We live with the memories of that wonderful time together. Now, we go back about the eternal journey we were all on before we "met"this time.Saints and philosophers have sought cures for the death that separates us from those we love in these time and space encounters. Some have proposed to stop the process of craving that manifests into these lives where we experience pain. Others have suggested that a special being or beings can save us from death.Death defies reason or belief's ability to comprehend. It can feel painful and unfair.All of I've come to in these many years of pondering the fate of living things is this.

1. Enjoy every moment while you have it. Don't take your family, your friends, or your pet for granted. The time together in this place in this form is short.
2. There is a reason and a purpose in it all. There was a reason Mia came into our lives and we came into hers. Now that momentary reason has been satisfied. It's time for a new combination of variables so that we can all complete the path we're on.
3. Nothing is ever truly lost. We're all manifestations of something all wise, all knowing, and all encompassing. As Marianne Williamson has often said, "there's really only one of us here." That one has a reason for the roles we each play and it's a bond, a connection that can never be broken.

Yes, Mia's consciousness has left the form we cherished and gone back to the great recycling bin of life, as we all one day will. Yet, we didn't just meet 15 years ago. These forms aren't who we really are. We've been bubbles on the ocean of life sticking together for a passing moment. But, you, Mia, and me are all made of ocean not bubbles. We've been together forever on this path.To my sweet little girl, it's not goodbye. It's until we play the game together again. Thanks for being an awesome friend on this go-around.In case no one else reminded you today, you're awesome!RayWebsite | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Support Us on PayPal