New Feb Meditation HERE
It was an unexpected compliment.
It happened on our early evening walk route, one that takes us all the way to our favorite vintage store as the farthest leg of our journey, before we circle back home.
Every day we pass Vlad’s vet.
Yesterday, I was inspired to drop in, knowing that he was due soon for some testing which required a stool sample.
I figured I’d save time and get the container.
The nurse receptionist was happy to oblige, saying that she was always impressed by how prepared I was for Vlad’s visits.
I was surprised, believing I’m just taking care of things in the most basic and efficient way, and yet I realize she might be onto something.
In fact, for the few times I’ve had to leave Vlad for more than a few hours, I’ve prepared a 12-page illustrated slide show for his caretakers.
It includes everything from the wifi password to emergency Vet information.
People are both amused and impressed, and actually quite grateful to have all the information they’d ever need at their fingertips.
I am, however, inspired to (half-jokingly) quip when handing them the PDF, that I definitely invested more care in preparing this dog-sitting manual than perhaps was spent on my entire childhood.
In some ways, as I was deciding on this month’s theme and recording my new meditation, one choice seemed obvious.
You see, since it’s a) Leap Year and b) I’m launching two entrepreneurial projects and beta testing my new course, I’ve opted to explore Taking A Leap of Faith.
The new meditation is HERE.
As always, I hope you enjoy it and that it resonates with you.
Sometimes the algorithm is really on your side, and sometimes it seems designed to confound you.
This week as I was reading a New Yorker review for a new TV show about which I have very conflicting feelings, the online ghost in the machine suggested a 2010 Malcolm Gladwell article called “The Sure Thing.”
The topic was a total bullseye for my life right now but with a surprising twist.
Namely, we all assume that mega-successful entrepreneurs like Ted Turner (who is the main subject of the article) are bold gamblers, always fearlessly taking that Leap of Faith.
Instead, several studies reveal the opposite is true: they’re actually so successful because in reality they are extremely risk-averse.
Needless to say, mind blown.
Science, poets, and philosophers all tell us that Time is an Illusion.
And nowhere is that more apparent than in our practice of occasionally adding an extra day to fudge our accounting of the earth’s orbit.
If we didn’t have that extra day every four years, our calendar would keep shifting out of synch with our expectations.
Basically, according to the Smithsonian, in about 700 years our months would no longer correspond to our concept of seasons.
In this hemisphere, not having a Leap Year would mean that July would be the center of winter and January would be the hottest time of the year.
(Again, this would happen in around 2724).
Previous solutions to this calendar quirk were even stranger, including the Roman custom of having 10 months and “an ill-defined winter period.”
Basically, it was all very confusing.
In fact, I find this historical statement from the Smithsonian charmingly candid:
“Historians are still unclear as to how the early Romans kept track of their years, mostly because the Romans themselves may not have been entirely sure.”
Perhaps you, too can relate…
I’ve just begun a book the Gladwell article cites, Scott Shane’s The Illusions of Entrepreneurship.
One of the things he writes about is that most entrepreneurial failure is because of lack of preparation and foresight.
Indeed, the greatest factor in the entrepreneur’s success is not boldness so much as dedicated analysis and insightful reflection.
It’s NOT having ice water in one’s veins, in other words, so much as it is preparing spreadsheets that covers every contingency.
(Or a 12-page manual to anticipate your dog-sitter’s every possible query).
For those of you planning to live a very long time, here’s something else you should know about Leap Years.
Yes, they occur every four years, but there is another exception:
Years that are divisible by 100 but not by 400 do not qualify as leap years.
Thus, there was no leap year in 1900.
Nor will there be one in 2100.
Be sure your calendar conforms so you don’t under or overbook.
Taking a Leap of Faith is a theme that really interests me, particularly in the context of how it best harmonizes with preparedness.
Some of my most memorable adventures / most foolish undertakings are because of my own willingness to plunge in wholeheartedly yet often without enough (if any) preparedness.
Another thing I took to heart from the Gladwell article was that while reshaping our vision of the entrepreneur from the compulsive risk-taker into an analytical, risk-averse predator, he also drills one layer down to find something deeper.
At heart, the entrepreneur is a romantic, “motivated by the simple joy he finds in his work.”
Although it’s entitled “Taking the Leap of Faith,” I tried to weave all of these components into the new meditation, striving to connect with that unique combination of boldness and preparedness, fueled by a heart-driven passion.
Again, it’s HERE.
Several posts on the socials lately have made quips about how “January was an intense year” or that people are ready to start 2024 now that February has finally rolled around.
I completely get it.
I’m also a big fan of us starting fresh whenever we’d like.
As Seth constantly reminds us, The Present is the Point of Power.
Anyway, here are two more facts you can take to heart on this 02.04.2024…
Those who design our calendars––be they astronomers or mathematicians––refer to the non-leap years as “Common Years.”
Therefore, that means that 2024 is labeled (and perhaps destined) to be an Uncommon One.
I like that a lot.
And, as a final note, here’s one more thing I learned this week.
People born on Leap Days have an official nickname:
They’re called Leaplings.
Perhaps this February we can all be Leaplings of a sort, pursuing our passions with the perfect mix of boldness and preparedness, as this truly Uncommon Year unfolds.
Namaste for Now,
