Flip the Switch

Wake up
Feel grumpy
Smile

Tell yourself to smile
Tell yourself a joke
Tell yourself you can nap when you get home

Even though you won't
Because you'll be busy
Because you'll be moving
Because you never stop moving

Don't forget to have your coffee
Don't forget the extra sugar
Don't forget the to-do lists

The stack of to-do lists
That never-get-done

Remember to buy extra paper
For more lists
For more reminders
That you're not moving fast enough

Get in the car
Look in the rearview mirror

You need to smile
You need to start smiling now
You need to stop wasting time being miserable

Misery is a waste of time
And you need all the time you've got

You've got to get over what you didn't do yesterday
And make up for it today

You've got to flip the switch

You've got to remember to charm
And watch what you say
And project onto the world
The person you'd like to be

Ninety percent of being a person
Is appearing to be
The person
That you're not

So you flip the switch
And you're that person

You're undeniably bright
And attractive
And breezy

You seem to not care at all
Or think at all
About how easy it is
To be you

You seem to be at peace with yourself
And whole, a whole person

But that's because

If you're good at hiding anything
It's the switch

So you can flip it

And at the end of the day
When the naps have been skipped
And the lists have, once again
Piled up

You flip it down

And you rest your head
And you take comfort
In the darkness

With one hand still resting
Waiting
To start it all again
When tomorrow
Rolls around