Paradigm Shift

For years and years I lived the curse of all women A woman’s work is never done That is, never finished The more work I did the more work showed up The To Do list was never ending If I made a dent in it You couldn’t tell It was multiple pages and still I refused to forget a single item I used to work my To Do list and hope For some opening somewhere somehow someday Where I would be able to read, take a candlelit bath Go for a leisurely walk, paint, write poetry It never happened My ever growing To Do list Had stopped even giving me the glimmer of hope I was just that crazy hamster busy at her wheel Till one day I was late with a painting I had promised I was pushed to the wall I had no choice I just had to focus on my craft and not think of anything else I went at it and focused and focused It wasn’t easy but I eventually got it done It was an awesome feeling to finally sign my name And say it was D-O-N-E But my celebration was more to me About having won over time Time who had always been so elusive So demanding so full of orders and ultimatums Seeming so rigid and inflexible All of a sudden I had decided I would ignore it Along with my long list of To Do’s And surprisingly life went on… Nothing drastic happened Nothing fell apart Nothing exploded I was actually stunned to tell you the truth I had once learned about The differences between Important and Urgent But my power over it never really sunk in until then Now I have a new life Where my Important priorities are in front of me Where I can reach the one or the other And the dishes get done but not till I decide to take a break I do my best to add less to my To Do list And most of all, pace myself instead of Trying to kill myself racing through it all It may seem to you like a small paradigm shift But to me, my life is turned inside out for the better AP: 2nd place 2020, Honorable Mention 2021 Submitted on August 21, 2017 for contest THE POET'S OWN sponsored by GREG BARDER - RANKED 4TH