Cat lovers, horse lovers, ‘fill in the blank’ lovers - replace the word ‘dog’ with your animal of choice.

“Oh, you’re so lovely. Aren’t you the sweetest? I don’t know what I’d do without you in my life. You are my cutey patooty dawooty sawooty. I love you soooo much.”

These are just a few of the things I say to my dog, every morning, within minutes of waking up.

Every morning, when my alarm goes off, Clover jumps onto my bed and stands over top of me, her face in my face. Her tail wags, her ears perk and the little pink tip of her tongue sticks out of her mouth ever so slightly. She looks at me lovingly and expectantly. Then I obediently, and happily, rub her belly and tell her how much I love and appreciate her.

Now, could you imagine if every morning, within minutes of waking up, someone was saying similar things to you: “Aren’t you the sweetest? I love you so much. What would I do without you in my life? You are the best!”

How different would your days be? How different would you feel? I bet all that love in the morning would keep you going strong for the rest of the day.

In reality, we don’t all have someone in our life who can do this for us. But we can do this for ourselves.

Many of us are familiar with mantras. You may already practice saying mantras to yourself out loud or in your head every morning morning. ‘I am enough. I am loved. I am not afraid.’

I invite you to step it up. Greet, love and appreciate yourself out loud, every morning with as much enthusiasm and unconditional love as you would for your dog, or cat, or lamb, or….

It sounds silly and will definitely feel silly. But try it, just for a week, and notice how different you feel, immediately afterwards and throughout the day.

And if you just feel a little too ridiculous, think of how unconditionally you love your animal and how much you praise them for even the smallest act. (My dog looks my way, and I immediately start telling her what a good dog she is.)

Challenge yourself to love yourself as you would your animal.

Every morning, wake up and say, “Oh you’re so lovely. You’re so sweet. Life wouldn’t be as good without you in it. You are the best!”

And just like your dog would, lap it up. Enjoy it. Believe it.

By Sarah Artis
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