Leap Day – the Gift of an Extra Day
Have you ever had one of those days, or weeks, where you had been making great strides, but suddenly things keep coming up and getting in your way? Ugh – I hate that! This is how it has been for me recently.
So, this was how the last day and a half went for me (now, don’t let this suck you down, it gets better :-):
- Monday night one of my sons announces that he has to make some sort of French recipe Tuesday to take to French class on Wednesday (and “he” means “we” as he is not proficient at cooking or baking yet!)
- Tuesday I hear from the tile guy letting me know what may be involved with our master bathroom shower problem (it’s leaking into the wall and we may have to have it reconstructed if there’s dry rot); and that he could start on Monday (my calendar that had lots of phone sessions that I do from my home office was not going to be in agreement with a lot of noise in the house, along with a whining and barking dog, who will not want to be in his crate).
- I started coming down with a cold/virus
- My son had chosen a recipe for muffins to make, but we needed more sugar. Rather than me taking time out of my workday to purchase it, after picking him up from swim practice we swung by the store for him to go in and get the sugar.
- As we were heading home, at this point it’s 6:00 pm and dinner still needs to get started, my other son says that he needs a book for school to start reading that night (he had thought his brother already had the book, but just found out he didn’t); needless to say I blew my cool at this point!
- Dinner was rather late from getting a late start.
- Helped make 36 muffins.
- There was no way I was getting back in the car to go get the book, so I bought the Kindle version and let my son use my Kindle (I thought I was pretty brilliant for thinking of that solution :-))
- Finally finished with all that at 9 pm. I was pooped and not feeling all that well, and announced that I was going to bed.
- My husband says “Aren’t you going to watch American Idol with me?” (he’s sounding a little disappointed as this is something we like to do together). I watch for 10 minutes and then go to bed.
- Notice that my watch’s battery has died. (Ugh, one more errand to run!)
I woke up today and was still feeling that “I can’t believe all this crap is going on.” It makes me really mad when I feel I’ve got momentum going and I’m trying to get the zillion things on my list accomplished, and then “life” happens and I end up feeling like I’ve taken 5 steps backwards.
And then I read an email newsletter talking about it being Leap Day and an extra day in the month. Those few words were such a gift to me! Wow, the Universe just delivered to me a totally extra day this month! An entire 24 hours! I felt so grateful – and that seemed to shift everything for me.
As I drove the kids to school I noticed a few Tulip Magnolia trees that were blooming so beautifully (I LOVE when these trees are in bloom!) I also noticed all the other blooming trees (that I pass everyday), but really noticed how lovely they were along my route to school. The radio announced who the participants will be on Dancing with the Stars that will start soon (I love dance and this is another show that my husband and I like to watch together). When I got home, since the weather was nice, I decided to take a walk. I enjoyed listening to the birds chirping, and even saw a woodpecker up close pecking away on a tree. (I usually only hear them – and maybe see them – from afar.) It reminded me that yesterday I saw out my kitchen window a woodpecker just standing on my lawn. I have never seen that! I smiled as I walked by “cardboard hill” (as the neighborhood kids call it), remembering seeing a couple boys sliding down it on pieces of cardboard the other day. What fun that must be for them! That’s good, old-fashioned fun! And when I was almost back to my house, I saw a hawk flying above. Hawk always reminds me that things don’t have to be hard. They ride the currents and only have to exert themselves for flapping their wings just now and then. And Woodpecker can teach us is about rhythm; and for me that’s about remembering that my life seems to always have its own rhythm. Things always get back on track. Things may slow down, but then turn around and I get my momentum back. Thank you, Hawk and Woodpecker – I choose to breathe your wisdom into my being! And thank you, God, for providing messages to us through Nature and all that is around us.
We can have crummy days shifted in an instant if we just allow it. If we can look for the small gifts in life, it can be just enough to adjust our perception of how our lives are going. It was a huge shift for me! I went from “shaking my fist at the heavens” about all the 3-D stuff getting in the way of my Lightwork, to thanking God for all the lovely things I witnessed and experienced that day. Now that’s a shift!
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