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It’s Leap Day.

This morning I found myself running into an unending string of encouraging words on Facebook, telling me to do something special today. Yes! That’s wonderful stuff, being encouraged to seize the day. Except, please, would some of you mind coming back tomorrow? With the same message, and enthusiasm. And, um, the day after that. Could a few of you–what the heck, let’s just map out March! I mean, if it isn’t too much trouble.

Each of those days, will only come once. Too many of them pass by without my noticing.

The sun has set where I am. Was there much of a sunset, or were the skies covered in clouds? It rained most of the day. I noticed that. And it warmed up, too! Did the sun come out as well? I don’t know. What about where you are?

What I love most about Leap Day, is the way it allows us to acknowledge that something we use every day is imperfect. Our calendar is close, but if we didn’t add a leap day every four years, eventually we’d really have Christmas in July! Isn’t it interesting that people never complain that no one has “fixed” the calendar? Or that the calendar is “broken?” We don’t worry about it. We don’t fret. Not, at all. We use it as it is, and adjust as we go. Across the globe we’ve agreed, if the year is 365.2425 days long that’s good enough to live by!

Today, a friend shared this quote with me,

“Take all the time you need to heal emotionally. Moving on doesn’t take a day, it takes lots of little steps to be able to break free of your broken self.” ~Theresa

I don’t know Theresa, but I think she’s wise. Breaking free of our broken selves, takes many little steps. Mostly, I think, breaking free is as much about accepting and owning your flaws as anything. Loving them even, because they’re part of you. Owning them so much that you forget to worry about them, the way we never think to make the calendar a concern.

Another thing I love about Leap Day is that it repeats. One adjustment isn’t enough. Correcting course is an ongoing process. That’s also one of Lent’s gifts. Yesterday, in a moment of weakness, I ate a piece of chocolate. I rationalized that I was eating the cookie for the coconut and the caramel, not the chocolate. The cookie was a Girl Scout Samoa/Caramel Delite. All right. I’ll admit it. It took two to get me back on track. They are so good. Once the taste of chocolate lingered, as it did, I remembered why I was giving it up. I. Love. Chocolate. I didn’t bash myself, I put the cookies away. I was off task (they’re a reminder to follow my plan for the day). I know where the box is. I know there are more cookies. I’m not going to have one. I won’t even have .2425 of one. I will take my little steps, and adjust as I go. When I’m ready? Then, I’ll leap!