This is my last post on lesson learned from my dad which are his gift to me. I am my father’s Gift.  I say this with #humilty.

I dedicated each day this month to recount some of the lessons I’ve learned from my dad.

While I’ve been reflecting on lessons learned I can’t help but also reflect on what I’ve accomplished through the last decade.  Someone once said #grief will either break you or make you. I realised how painful and powerful grief can be, and I embraced my grief.

If my father was writing about me he would say I’ve come a long way.

As the famous song goes he’s the power behind my wings.

My Dad was my emotional why for my London marathon in 2018. I got a tattoo on father’s day. I experimented and discovered coaching. I completed the ILM 7 accreditation to coach  and mentor senior professionals.

I discovered I could write so I  wrote blogs to make sense of my pain and this became a book.

I lost my fear of failure through grief and learnt to pivot to find my new purpose. When I was a child my dad introduced me to our first German shepherd dog called Asha. Most of my adult like this was a memory sat in my  psyche hardly referred to but when lockdown came my German Shepherd pup Oscar, and I found each other, as if to complete the circle of life, or join the dots. What my dad started continues.

To live on purpose we need a strong emotional why. For me my path is clear, in all that I do and wish to become I want to make my dad even more proud of me. I want to be the daughter he so deserves.

Today is exactly ten years to the day of my father’s death. He remains in my heart. His absence is chiselled in my soul but I’ve grown around it to keep doing my dharma.

Thanks to everyone who has followed my reflections here I genuinely appreciate you. Thank you for your comments and likes. I also want to thank those who shared their feelings about my dad, and theirs too. It’s funny but when we bare our soul and show our vulnerability indirectly,  others find the power to share their truth.

Thank you.

Sine die. My dad and I used to say this a lot as the story never ends and as the great T.S. Elliot said ” We shall not cease from exploration. And the end off all our journey will be to arrive where we started. And know the place for the first time”.

#lessonslearned
#mydad
#lifepurpose
#leadershiplessons

For me the end of this year and month is made even more poignant. This time a decade ago life was precarious. I was praying to God to take my father’s pain away, and on 30th December 2013, God did just that.

My Dad and I are still together death has not interuppted that bond.

Right now I’m going through a whole host of emotions from feeling blue to feeling wow, I’m living my fairytale lifestyle, and blimey I survived my broken heart.

Death does not sever the connection I share with my dad. He’s my power and he’s my emotional why in all that I’ve accomplished, and in all that I am.

This morning I woke up and was greeted by my big giddy pup. I see love in his eyes.

While I walk up to my D-day, the tenth anniversary of my dad’s passing I realise I’m indebted to my dad for giving me the life skills to withstand the pain of losing him.

To anyone out there at the start of their journey of loss, hang in there. One day you’ll see the sun and you’ll find the joy to live again like I have. I couldn’t see myself here back then but yes,  it’s not easy but I’m happy to be here.

The 27th lesson learned from my dad was him telling me before he died that my life would much better after his death. I refused to believe him but he was right. God took my dad and he gave me a second chance to live again.

I’m a second chancer more on that in my next post. For now, I can see the summit, thank you Pops.

©DMP