Sunday, April 24, 2016

Lessons from The Sancho... believing in me is half the battle.


The last couple of days have been very introspective. Coach C has launched me into training with no mercy. Over the last week I joined the local Masters Swim Team, run endless hilly miles and even sneaked in a 30 mile ride after who knows how many months of not doing ANY kind of cycling. 
Just as I was beginning to complain about my choice of sport, my dog Sancho's cancerous tumor took a turn for worse. He had been dealing with it for about a month, but today, his time here with us ended. He was an awesome dog- a pure bred mutt who never doubted his nobility. While he was never able to communicate with words, it was all too clear that he believed his heritage to be that of royalty. He was convinced he belonged to the landed gentry of his canine world.  Sancho was terrible, wild and bossy as a puppy. He turned into the world's best shadow chaser in his teens and the laziest dog in old age. He was our good ol' man, and we will miss him dearly.
His passing has really made me ponder a couple of things- 
1) How life continues to prove its ephemeral nature.
2) How believing in yourself and your story is half the battle. Sancho never doubted his nobility and always played the part. During his 10 years with us, I must have been asked hundreds of times what breed he was and how regal he looked. His confidence and regal demeanor was an integral part of him- he believed his royal breed into being. 
This last point is what I'm extrapolating today into my life. I have to believe in myself and my goals in order to make them a reality. But it all needs to start in my head. 

So here's to a life well lived and to believing in oneself!

Sancho- RIP 04/24/2016