Bright, Bold & bRave

In case you've missed it, we are all things Bright, Bold and bRave. No, that's not a typo, we deliberately use a small b and capital R for the word BRAVE.

BBR = Back Beach Rd

But what does it mean to us?

Stand out. Be Bright.

Express yourself. Be Bold.

Show courage. Be bRave.

While scary and challenging for many of us, being bold and brave is essential if we’re going to live an authentic, successful, and fulfilling life. Boldness is about stepping up and stepping out onto our edge in life—pushing the limits of what we think is possible or even appropriate. It’s about living, speaking, and acting in ways that are both courageous and true to who we are. It's having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear or difficulty. 

Because we’re all unique, our individual versions of boldness and bravery will look quite different.  

For me, over the school holidays, I witnessed boldness and bravery by my whole family. We had to put our 16 year old Labrador down. 

Our family dog, Nelson was probably a year or so past his time. But we had hoped he would die naturally, in his sleep. Peaceful for him and easier for us. But it wasn't to be.

The 6 of us were at the vet holding his paws, patting his head and feeding him treats when he took his last breath. As tears streamed down our faces, it felt right to all be there. 

We each reacted slightly differently, age appropriately I guess. We didn't make the kids stay and we offered more than a few times for them to leave the room, but to my surprise it was clear we all wanted to be there as a family unit. As hard as it was. 

Years ago, I was unable to put my cat down and had a gorgeous friend do it for me. It was close to the time I lost my 21 year old brother and always felt that had something  to do with it. 

Death brings up many sad memories but I realise when it's the 'right' time it can actually be something quite different. It can be a celebration of life. So that is what my husband and I tried to make it. The night before the vet, knowing what they were probably going to say, we all sat around sharing stories about Nelson. We laughed, we cried. 

The next day dragged as we waited for our 430pm appointment, knowing what was probably going to happen. It was an odd feeling. I really didn't know which person in our family would be sitting with Nelse at the end. We knew someone had to. So when it turned out that we all did, I was really proud. Proud of my kids, my hubby and myself.

It would have been easier and less scary not to be there but because we were bold, stepped out of our comfort zone and found our own courage, we have each grown in ourselves just a little. 

RIP Nelson. Thank you for 16 years. We will miss you xxxxxx