My dogs get me out of bed every morning.

Not with barking.
Not with chaos.
But with the soft thump of tails & the warm press of noses against my skin.
They wait like they have all the time in the world.

& maybe they do.

They don’t rush me to the bathroom.
They don’t sigh when my feet take a while to find the floor.
They just stay.
Steady, watching, loving me exactly as I am
even if it’s not yet ready for the world.

That’s when I remember:
They already are.

They are ready for the walk.
Ready for the sky,
for the wind,
for the same path we always take,
as if it’s brand new again
just because it’s today.

I want to be more like them.
I want to meet the morning the way they do;
with joy that doesn’t need a reason.
I want to love people without needing them to move faster.
I want to forgive the past five minutes & just be here,
heart open,
full of nothing but the joy of being alive.

My dogs are patient.
They are present.
They are love,
in its purest, most honest form.

& every morning they remind me:
I can be that, too.

“Radiate boundless love toward the entire world — above, below, & across — unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.”

— Metta Sutta