I was almost a leap year baby

29:)

I celebrate my birthday each year on February 28th. Yes, I was almost a leap year baby.

Birthdays are often a time of reflection. Thinking back on the last year and planning for the future. We believe another year lies before us, but we don't know what might come our way. A diagnosis may change our plans drastically. News of a pending divorce or marriage can alter how we view the days ahead. And, sometimes, we spend so much time thinking about yesterday that we miss the day right at our feet.

When I was knee-deep in chemotherapy treatment for cancer (diffused large b-cell lymphoma, to be exact), I remember counting seconds as a way to get through a difficult time. Every part of my body hurt and moving even half an inch or blinking my eyes took too much energy. I didn't see how I would ever get through that stretch of time.

Then, I began counting. One, two, three, four... When I got to sixty, I was relieved that an entire minute had passed. I had not died. I thought if I could do that sixty more times, I would make it through the next hour. I began to count again.

I still count today when times are tough. Instead of wishing the moment away, I try to experience it, hard as it may be, and then move past it.

With an extra twenty-four hour period this month, I hope you are able to pause for a moment and give thanks for the gifts you have received, honor the challenges for what they have to teach us and plan for the days ahead. It all lies before us like an unwritten book. It is up to us to lay down the words and breathe them into every part of our being.