Leap Year!

It's Leap Year, so we have the gift of an extra day today. Every four years a day is added to the calendar - except for years divisible by 100 but not by 400. Leap year is a structure that allows us to keep the seasons in sync and prevents the drifting of Spring over decades from the end of March to the beginning of March. It keeps the calendar time clock that we live by running smoothly.

If I have this right, it means that Pope Gregory XIII (who came up with the leap year plan in 1582), recognized the importance of adding structures to keep things balance and in sync. He sounds like a man ahead of his time. Perhaps he would have made a great life coach.

What if we each were able to recognize when we are "drifting" out of balance? What if we become more aware of when we are out of sync with our body clock? What if we each took a bold action step to compensate for imbalance? How might you do that for yourself?

I'm thinking that putting a structure in place for myself once every four years, except for years divisible by 100 or 400, is not going to be enough. (Luckily we don't have to worry about that divisible by 100, but not by 400 again until the year 2100.) However, that means that I would only have an opportunity to re-set the thermostat in four years. In four years I will have been using a lot of extra energy to run things full blast.

What is my version of a leap year structure? What helps me to keep the clock I live by in sync and in balance? In what ways do I start drifting away from the things that are most important?

Who knew there was so much to think about on this date of February 29th?

One final question - How are you going to spend the gift of an extra day today? Spend it wisely because you won't get another one until the year 2012.