In the end, I just couldn’t figure out how to say good-bye. You’d think after being on the planet this long, good-byes would be easier. We’re always leaving behind people, places and circumstances aren’t we, either because we make a choice or someone else makes a choice without us. But in those final moments with my sweet senior pup, the right words didn’t come to me. Instead, as I held her tired face, I said, “thank you”. Thank you for loving us so wholeheartedly and showing up every day with the unbridled joy only a dog can have. And that really is the key isn’t it?

In the days that followed, we gathered pictures of her and sat down and made a scrapbook. There she was in the backdrop of every birthday, Christmas, car trips, swimming in the pool. And I realized something. I had hugged my 19 year old more times in those final five days than I had in the last five years. You know how teenagers can be. And I told my husband how much I appreciated how he held our 12 year old as she cried and cried. I thanked and thanked him for rearranging all the furniture in the family room because I couldn't bear to see the empty space where the dog bed had been for so long. I started to realize all that love didn’t really go away, it actually expanded. I told my parents how much I appreciated how they held her and supported me. Heck-I even told Kim I loved her after she showed up at my door hours afterward with flowers.

I realize now that one silly dog ignited so much love-even from many of you who emailed with kind words. So this Valentine’s Day-let's remember the love that you never have to say good-bye to-the kind that grows and circulates. Remember it, celebrate it and be thankful for it.

One of my favorite quotes is "what we look for in life is what we see".  It seems fairly obvious that we see what we are looking at, but there's a deeper meaning here. This quote is not about what we physically see with our eyes, but rather what we perceive with our minds.

When we go through life assuming things are happening TO us, and that we are surrounded by negativity, we tend to look for things to confirm that assumption.  We overlook things that contradict that belief.  We see things as WE are, not as they are.  In this way, we create our own reality.

But the good news is that we can shift our mindset and see life as happening FOR us, and look for love and beauty in everything and everyone in our lives.  Start by looking for things to appreciate in general (there are so many beautiful things in nature ~ birds, flowers, trees, the sun and moon), then move on to looking for and appreciating the strengths in your friends, your mate and yourself.  Putting your focus only on the positive traits.

When we shift our thinking, and begin to look for positive aspects in others and in ourselves, we will begin to see and feel more love in our lives.  Suddenly the world begins to look more beautiful and our relationships begin to flourish, as we are looking for and seeing the best in each other!  And before we know it, we realize that love is everywhere!