Last weekend, I was given the opportunity of a lifetime. I was able to see a real two-toed sloth up close and personal. This is nothing I could have ever dreamed of. I was introduced to Xena and was even able to enter her space. I could have petted her but I assumed I was allergic, since I have allergies to almost every living thing. But I was close with no fence or distraction between us. I watched as this beautiful creature settled in for a nap but not after having a few blueberries first. Xena is such a gentle and sweet animal.

Over the past year or so, I have become obsessed with videos of orphaned sloths or rescued sloths that were bought as pets but did not work out. Sloths are not pets, no matter how bad I want one! This obsession has lead me to believe that my spirit animal is a sloth. Here’s why I think that:

Sloths are considered one of the slowest animals on the planet. My husband considers me one of the slowest animals on the planet and I cannot argue with that. I don’t think that sloths sweat the small stuff or the large stuff or even the medium stuff. The older I get the less I sweat anything. I still worry and obsess but not like when I was younger. I hope to emulate sloths on that level.

Sloths mostly eat leaves when in the wild. There is not a lot of nourishment in leaves so a sloth’s metabolism is really slow. My diet is fairly lacking in nourishment, not because I eat leaves but because I don’t eat healthy food. I was raised on Coke in a glass bottle, Cap’n Crunch and Kit Kat’s. I don’t usually have a whole lot of extra energy to spend. I have to ration out what energy I have.

Sloths sleep 10 to 16 hours a day! Anything that can do that on a consistent basis is most definitely a hero of mine. I generally cannot sleep that long, but oh how I would love to try!

Sloths seem to like fruit when it’s cut up and fed to them. I really don’t like fruit but if it was cut up and fed to me, I might eat it. Nope, cookies are better than fruit.

They are gentle creatures. They don’t go looking for trouble. They seem to just want to exist. Sure, when threatened they get mad but I get the idea they would rather not. I prefer to be a gentle soul. I can get really mad but I would like to never be mad again. Most times in my life when I have acted in anger, I always regret my behavior.

Sloths only poop once a week. That’s one thing I don’t want to emulate.

I bet if sloths had Netflix they would do some serious binge watching…in between naps of course. I love me some binge watching and binge eating!

I see a lot of similar behaviors between sloths and myself. I love their gentle nature and kind spirit. If you haven’t seen a baby sloth video, I recommend watching a few. They renew your faith in the world today. If nothing else, they will brighten your day.