True Joy In Life

I'll be happy once I've done this certain thing.

We all say this often, not realizing what it brings.

We look only to the future for our happiness,

Letting life slip through our fingers in its fullness.

Will we feel complete when the task is done

or look back and see how we missed so much fun?

Self-consumed so we can't see anything else,

hurting those we love as well as ourselves.

So many things around us to be grateful for.

When seeking an answer, willingly open the door.

So often, others see what's in front of our face,

but we're too blind to look as we're snared in the race.

When speaking to a man on his dying bed,

none of these answers are what he said.

Family, love, laughter are what we should seek.

These are the precious things that keep life from being bleak.