Closer To Me

When we step outside our doors in the morning,

and into the moving world…

we turn on.

We turn on for the commute.

We turn on to be alert and vigilant as we travel.

We turn on for work.

We turn on for the boss, the coworkers, the executives.

We turn on for friends.

We turn on for crowds, events, and celebrations.

But when we come home, we are excited to finally ‘turn off.’

We are comforted by the fact that when we get home, we can be as disconnected, anti-social, grumpy, cranky, moody, and disengaged as much as we want because home is a powered-down, safe place.

But, we often seem to forget who is at home…

Family.

While the world gets the most pleasant parts of us when we’re ‘turned on,’ those who are home waiting for us get the unpleasantries of our powered-down self…

They get the mood swings…

They get the short tempers…

They get the quick responses and the closed doors…

They get the fatigue-ridden us…

They get the unenthusiastic, unfocused us…

They get the detached and the uninterested us…

They get the ‘maybe laters’ and the ‘not right nows’…

They get the frowns, the discontent, the attitudes and the unsureness…

And we don’t see it.

We’re completely oblivious.

We think that because we’re ‘always on’ in the world, flashing our biggest smiles and giving our purest efforts, that those at home should ‘understand’ and ‘give us a break.’

We think that we’ll have a lot of tomorrows to make up for the todays that we forfeited by thinking home is where you ‘turn off.’

Don’t take your home for granted.

Don’t take the souls who love all of you and will wait up for you to walk through the door for granted.

Don’t bank on tomorrows to flash your biggest smiles and give your purest efforts at home.

When all is said and done…

The world is not going to have your favorite meal waiting on the counter when you get home.

The world is not going to hug you and smile at you when the day has just been a little too long to bear.

The world is not going to smell like fresh laundry or gift you with small things they thought you’d like.

The world is not going to ask you what’s wrong or rub the parts of your body that hurt.

The world is not going to give you peace, warmth, joy, and unconditional, sacrificial love.

The place you call home…

The souls who are attached to you by love…

They are the ones you should ‘turn on’ for.

They are the ones who deserve your morning joy and your evening gratitude.

Everyone else can wait.

So…

If you have time today…

or you want to start fresh tomorrow…

Just reconsider who you are…

When you come home.