Self-Love (No this post is not about masturbation)

So as many of us following a spiritual path are doing, I am attempting to diminish my ego.  There are a variety of ways to go about this, such as meditation and being present, etc..  I'm sure different things work well for different people and I'm not here to rank them.  I am here, however, to talk to about something that concerns me and maybe you.  How do you continue to love your ego or maybe even love it more when you are busy working to get rid of it?  I know the first thing you are going to say, it isn't "work", you should let it drift away, or something like that..  Ok, fine, that works for the times when I'm able to present, but what about the rest of the time?  Do I give the ego the stick or the carrot?  Do I tell it how awesome it is or call it a dumb shit when it tries to get me down?  What about when it is happy?  Do I tell it, watch out, don't be happy, you might grow?  

Don't get me wrong, I'm still loving my ego while this is all happening.  Growing up, I loved my dog whether it peed on the floor or not.  But what do you do when that happens?  Scold the dog?  Reward the dog?  Or accept that pee happens and move on.  I would think it is probably the last one, but then who cleans up the pee?  Because I used to walk around in socks and stepping in a pee puddle was not conducive to my happiness, no matter what lesson it was supposed to teach me.  Be ever present Chris or you may step in pee, says the wise old man.  

So I think there is actually a broader question here.  How do we love universally when we aren't always present?  


Love ya!


P.S. I would love to hear your comments on this subject and my other postings.  I am hoping we can get some good discussions going.  Thanks!