Take the Leap!

It’s Leap Day!  You have to admit that there’s something special about a day that comes around once every four years.

Throughout my life, I have leaped into, out of, and over a whole heap of stuff (some smart, some not so smart, but no matter – “It’s all material, Cupcake.”). I’ve even leaped from one career to another. My husband and sister have done the same. You could say that we’re “leapers”. And that’s a heck of a lot better than being lepers, let me assure you.

Anyway, I must admit that I love reading about leapers – especially those crazy, wild, froggy folks who have taken giant jumps that produce giant results. Like Albert Schweitzer, that famous medical doctor and humanitarian who has a gazillion hospitals named after him. Before he started medical school at the age of 30, he was a famous organist (organ as in the musical kind, not the medical kind). How about Michael Crichton? He left the medical field to write The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, ER, etc. And then there’s Andrea Bocelli, an attorney who apparently took Shakespeare seriously and ditched the law books for fame as a tenor.

My sister, Carol, who helps folks get themselves fit and healthy, is a BIG proponent of leaping. Not just in the literal sense (although I am certain that she can extol its physical benefits), but figuratively, too. She says, “Everybody should be going for a goal that scares them so badly, they think they’re going to pee their pants.” Now that’s some serious leaping! And, yes, she really does say that – sometimes she even puts it in writing.

PROMPT: Take a leap today – even if it’s just a tiny hop. Do something you’ve always wanted to do. Test drive a Porsche. Sing Karaoke. Dance in the rain. Kiss a frog just to see what happens. Then set a goal you’d like to accomplish by next Leap Day. One that really scares you (but stop at the pharmacy first to pick up those Depends). Create… a leaper colony. Create a LIFE!