Shiny and New - Kay White

The phone rang about an hour ago and I caught my breath. It was the Specialist Vet Heart Surgeon calling.

One of our hounds (Jeffrey, the smallest and naughtiest) has a heart condition.

Without surgery we’ve been told he has only about 10 to 12 months to live.

He’s only 7 years old.

We’ve decided the odds of the heart surgery working and Jeffrey’s survival are good enough (85-90%) to go ahead.

They have a space for him and it’s next week. Tuesday.

Jeffrey has always looked into your soul…

Sharing this with you is about us both recognising how fragile life is. As you career through your career, we both know how easy it is to miss what’s going on…

How nothing can be taken for granted and how easy it is to do just that.

We can’t go through life constantly expecting ‘the worst’ or feeling that we can’t take any risks AND, I’ve learned, we must recognise that things are shifting and changing around us all the time.

All. The. Time.

I’m reading a book called 4,000 Weeks. It’s about time.

4,000 weeks is the lifespan you’d have if you live to 76 years old.

It’s a leveller when you think that each week, opening up for you shiny and new, is one of those weeks (and none of us have 4,000 weeks guaranteed do we ?)

So, whilst this is a reflective and somewhat sharp-intake-of-breath kind of message for you this week, my intention is simply this.

Be present to what’s going on for you.
Enjoy and get satisfaction from your time as much as you can
Notice what you notice about those around you – creatures as well as humans!
Stay loose. There’s what you plan and then there’s what happens.

Jeffrey is blissfully ignorant about his big op and all that it entails.

We’re not. We have to trust he’ll feel shiny and new after his recovery.

All paws are crossed in our house and it’s such a lesson in appreciating the moments.