Staying Busy

What do you have time for everyday?
Are you making every moment count?
Do you look back over the hours since you woke and say,
"I made it."
With a sigh of relief,
   a groan of exhaustion,
      a sense of accomplishment,
         a weight of failure?
Did you make your house a spotless paradise?
Were you able to accomplish a life long goal?
How do you feel when you made a to-do list and only
 check off one item?
Like a failure,
  Like a victor,
    did you do the important
        or the urgent?
Did little arms have a chance to wrap themselves around your neck?
Was a friend made welcome in the middle of a crisis?
Does it hurt you face to bend the muscles into a smile,
 Because it wears
  a sag of anxiety,
    a furrow of frustration,
      or a tension of perfection?
In the four-and-twenty hours of a day,
 did you find the bridge between hope and despair?
 (It's sleep.)
 did you notice something that might have grown?
 (A plant, a tooth, a new word.)
 did you look outside to see the weather?
 (God made the sun and the rain.)
 did you wash the dishes and make the bed?
 (Little things make the home feel nice.)
 did you rock your baby and let them interrupt you?
 (Just so they know you're available.)
 did you say "I love you"?
 (Important words.)
 did you do just one thing on that to-do list?
 (Small steps for big messes.)

Stay busy with an open heart
         for joy.
Stay busy with an open mind
         for wisdom.
Stay busy with open eyes
         for beauty.
Stay busy with open hands
         for loving.

~Caitlin Mallery