Help! How to help a grieving dog...???

Help! My dog is grieving and I'm a little unsure what to do... ??

Cooper is mourning the sudden loss of her brother yesterday. I'm measuring my own feelings and they pale in comparison to my surviving dog Cooper.

Whilst out at the beach yesterday, or in the park today, she is mostly distracted enough.... showing interest in her surroundings and new smells...

Yet at home she lays flat and unmoving.... paws straight out with her head bowed. She blinks up at me, showing sadness in her eyes...

I'm walking her more regularly and during the day she is by my feet at my desk, or following me around the house. By night, I've now moved her inside bringing her bedding into my room to be near me. She no longer has Samson to curl up next to outside in the kennel.

It breaks my heart to see her so sad. Watching her eye the back door to see when Sam is coming in.

I'm giving her a tonne of attention and love, which is helping my own grief whilst I am increasing my bond with her.

If you've had any experience with a dog grieving, and you have some helpful advise... please leave a comment for me below.

My two cats are fine. They are indoor only and well bonded to each other. Cleo, who was always a great buddy with Sammie seems to be fine. But then, she's closer to Chloe and they sleep cuddled up together also.

Forever grateful...

Katie & Cooper...

xx

A Very Special Life... His Love Still Lives On...

Today is one of deep reflection of love, gratitude, and counting all the magic moments with my very special friend.... and dog... Samson (German Shepard x Staffordshire).

He suddenly passed away today.

Christmas eve, he was racing around the park with Cooper, my other dog (Black Labrador x Samoyed).

Christmas day he began vomiting water and was lethargic.

Today, he was not looking well and vomiting phlegm. As he was getting into the car, he collapsed. I raced him down to the vet, panic rising in my throat... wanting to ignore the intuitive voice that was gently whispering it was his time to move forward.

Noooo.... Please nooo... not yet!

My vet was closed, so I raced down to the nearest one back in my own neighborhood.

I scooped Sammie off the back seat of my car. He was conscious, but exhausted.

Having been a Paramedic for many years, I witnessed the look I now saw in his eye.

"Not yet buddy.. Please, not yet!"

As I carried his now limp 21 kilo frame, I noticed how frail he is (he's been unwell with many health issues throughout his life). His bones are abrasive against my skin, without a lot of flesh on his frame anymore.

A kind lady held open the veterinary door, giving me space to struggle past.

I spy past two customers, making eye contact with the lady at the counter, "Please, help him! He's been vomiting and has collapsed."

She takes Sammie in her own arms and whisks him through a door. I'm no longer with him. I struggle to fight back the tears, as I become aware of six sets of human eyes looking at me with sympathy.

I stand still. Not sure what to do next. The lady comes back within a short minute. "Take a seat. We'll have someone with you in a minute."

I head back out to my car to get my handbag... and to give myself some space as I sniff back the tears. I take a deep breath as I lean against my car and allow the feelings to flow.

Within a few minutes, the weight on my chest lifts. I rub my eyes with the back of my hand in an attempt to dry them. It doesn't work.

In the waiting room, I distract myself with a book recently given to me by a dear friend.

"How Would Love Respond?" By Kurek Ashley.

It helps me to center my focus back on love and gratitude, instead of the pending loss.

"Miss Gilbert," I hear my name and look up to see the Veterinarian summoning me into the room.

Sammie is not in there.

My gut strikes. My face contorts as I try not to cry. Instead I hear a strange yelp sound squeeze out of my throat. I brace myself knowing what is about to be said.

He looks at me with tenderness.

"Tell me what happened," he asks.

I breathe deep, blow out and race with the details.

"He's been vomiting water, with lots of phlegm. He's not been eating in 24 hours. He's lethargic, and been distressed. And today he collapsed as I tried to get him into the car to come here."

He pauses. Obviously waiting a moment before he delivers his next bit of news.

"Sammie is suffering. He has heart failure. He's old for his breed and he's obviously had lots of health issues."

I nod. It's all I can do.

We both stand still, eyes connected. I sigh deeply.

"Are you saying we should put him to sleep?" I sniff again in a futile attempt to hold back that avalanche of tears.

"I do. He's suffering. Prolonging the inevitable is not fair."

He takes me through to the next room, where I see him weak but alive on the table. I wrap my arms around his neck and cry..

"I'm sooooo sorry baby, I love you sooooo much. Thank you for being such an incredible soul and guide for me for all these years. Thank you for hanging in there long enough for me to come home and say 'Goodbye' to you."

I look up as I sense the Vet standing next to me. The Vet nurse is passing me a box of tissues. I take one. "Ok, I'm not ready, but go ahead."

As the nurse holds my boy and the Vet induces the needle filled with a green fluid, I whisper in Sammie's ear.... "I love you... see you on the other side."

His body gently rolls back onto the nurse, as he exhales his last breath, his body still twitching. The Vet checks his heart... "He's gone," he says.

They give me a few moments with Sammie. "What now?" I ask. "I haven't a clue what happens next."

The nurse kindly takes me through the options for a burial or cremation. I choose to have him cremated, and placed into an urn so I can later have a private ceremony ...a last goodbye.

She tells me it will take a few weeks.

Now, the weight of his absence is surreal. My heart is filled with sadness, but I know this will pass. Whilst I'm honoring my feelings, I'm also focused on all the magic moments, the love, the joy, the fun, the protection my beautiful boy served me with for almost ten years...

May you rest in peace my sweet soul....

Merry Christmas! Celebrating With Joy & Gratitude...

Merry Christmas to my dear friends and friends I'm yet to meet!

I had a terrific day celebrating Joy & Gratitude with my family in Perth, Australia...

What a great day!

Plenty of food, wine, love, fun and abundance of gratitude abounds.... wishing the same vibration of magic and gratitude in your day with your loved ones too...

Merry Christmas.. with Joy & Gratitude

Katie Gilbert
"The Global Butterfly"

Magic Happens... It's Christmas

Some Wonderful Magic with Graham Kite...




It's Christmas eve, and I haven't created a post in 2 weeks!

So much Magic has happened! And now I get to share it with you too...

And to all my fellow "Profile Accelerators"... here's a tribute to you!



I left America on December 12th to arrive in Sydney on December 14th.

After spending a few days with some very generous and kind friends, I was back into 'Seminar Mode' with attending Dale Beaumont's "Profile Accelerator" course.

One word: OUTSTANDING!

Second word: FUN! FUN! FUN! ...OK, so that's three words.

But if you get my hint, the event was definitely one of the best I have ever attended for value and for amazing networking opportunities with people playing life at a much higher level!

If you get the chance to attend.. without a shadow of a doubt.. DO IT!

In one day: On set in a Hollywood Movie and Offset being a 'Paramedic'

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to play a small part in a Hollywood Movie called "Tranced: The Experience."

The day was full of experiences, both on and off set.

On-set, I got to play a "Hypnotic Host" along with Maya Hiersoux, Michael Grady, and Nicole Crocker. My role was small, but fun, helping the hypnotist (played by the Master himself, Marshall Sylver) to assist the audience experience their hypnotic trance even more.

We were fed on set, with snacks available all day long.

Then we took a break for lunch, with boxes of pizza arriving by the stacks.

Because we were not allowed to eat on set, we were shuffled outside of the theater to the front sidewalk.

We stood there on Santa Monica Boulevard, and the lunch-time traffic was busy with cars whizzing by with a trail of car fumes polluting the air.

Bundled up in my favorite Argentinean wrap to keep me warm from the chilly air I happily munch on my hot pizza. I was listening to the conversational banter going on around me when we heard a gut-wrenching screech of tires and a loud bang as the sound of glass splintered the air.

It took me a few seconds to realize it was not a car versus car, instead a crumpled up bicycle lay on the ground with a human being laying crumpled and still.

"My God!" I cursed as I ran through the traffic now standing still. My cocktail dress is flapping around my boots and I still have my wrap around me.

A few people began to gather around him, just standing and staring not knowing what to do. I threw my wrap at a stranger and said, "here hold this!" while I squatted down beside the man, doing my best to avoid the large chunks of glass and blood now dripping from his face.

"Sir! Can you hear me!" He was on his side, propped up on his right hand, groaning. "I'm Katie, and a trained Paramedic from Australia. I'm here to help you. Can you tell me your name?"

As I'm getting a response and doing a quick assessment, an LAPD cop is doing a secondary survey on the patient. I'm a little in shock myself having just 'witnessed' the accident, so hadn't seen him arrive. He tells me he is also a trained Paramedic from Illinois.

I help the cop to pull the backpack off the patient so we can lay him flat. My hair, loose and long, is flapping in the wind and I find out later, that my friend Michael had been standing behind me holding my hair to avoid it wiping through the blood on the ground.

When I discover this, I feel deep gratitude with this kind act.

"Thank You!" I say.

"You're a living Angel," he says. "That man will be so grateful for you."

I smile yet feel a sadness at the broken Angel now on his way to hospital in an ambulance.

My focus for the rest of the day was on fun, and even deeper gratitude yet again for my life and for every day and every moment I get to experience being alive and well.

My years working in the Ambulance service in Australia has me now deeply rooted in living large, never taking life for granted, being in the moment, always sharing my love and making sure my family, friends, and even strangers (friends I haven't met yet) know how magnificent we all are.

What's wonderful about this is, so many more opportunities reveal themselves. There is a magnetic force with gratitude and living in the NOW.

Is there someone in your life you want to share forgiveness and/or love with? What's holding you back? Are you wanting to do something in your life, but putting it off until 'tomorrow'... what if tomorrow never comes?

Which it doesn't.

Because by the time 'tomorrow' comes, it's 'today' again... and then you're saying "I should have done that yesterday."

What can you do in your life right now, to be fully present and engaged in your life?

Go on... for you and for the ones you love...

As the slogan for Nike says "Just Do It!"

Are you living large, expressing your Core Genius?

Adventure - Traveling in a whirlwind!

This last week, I've dashed from San Francisco, to Phoenix for 2 days then to Las Vegas for Speaker's Bootcamp with Marshall Sylver, AJ Puedan, Dave Vanhoose and Dustin Mathews.



Phenomenal!

My greatest learning this week is identifying my core genius, so I shine my brightest.

I get that!

Over the last few years, I've been mastering the skill of leveraging out most of my tasks, so I can do what I do best... and right now, that's living an extraordinary life of traveling the world and focusing on creating and learning...

And yet now, I have taken my understanding to a whole new level.

When I arrived back in San Francisco last night, I found a terrific YouTube video through facebook to share with you to really anchor in this truth... and I ask, are you living YOUR core genius?

If not, when will you now start living it?



The adventure continues...

When I arrived back in San Francisco last night, I checked my email for the first time in four days. I had received an invitation to apply for a casting call as one of four extras for a Hollywood movie.

My immediate thought, was "YES!"

Then I realized the filming was for TOMORROW...

In my mind I still said "Yes!"

So I called up the number and chatted with the lady, who advised me to email a photo of myself. Six hours later I got a call back and was told, "You've been selected, can you be here at Santa Monica Boulevard by 9:30am tomorrow?"

"Yes!" I said, without having even booked a flight yet! But I did..

Life is so short, and when opportunities of new experiences and adventure comes along,"YES" is the only answer, right?

I could have made a tonne of excuses as to why I couldn't go tomorrow. But, when you say "YES!" the Universe lines everything up for you! It's a phenomenal experience, especially when you live in the flow of this.

What are you going to say "YES!" to in the next 24 hours?

What opportunity are you going to attract into your life?

The more you say "YES!" the more opportunities are revealed to you...

And by the way, life is FULL of Golden Opportunities.... you just need to decide which ones are YOURS.