Today is Leap Day!

Every 4 years when February 29 rolls around during Leap Year, Leap Day is an intercalary day. According to an old Irish fable, St. Bridget made a deal with St. Patrick to allow women to propose to men. It is considered unlucky for someone to be born on Leap Day in Scotland and in Greece, it is said that it is unlucky for couples to marry on Leap Day as well as during a Leap Year.

Regardless of your personal beliefs, Leapers, those who are born on Leap Day, celebrate their birthdays every 4 years or every year on February 28 or March 1. Happy Leap Day everyone!



Avoid Turning Your Dreams into a Nightmare

An exceedingly vast majoring of people have this insatiable desire to seek attention, stardom and fortune. How often do you hear echoes of “If I won the lottery, this is what I would do,” or “I want to be a star?” What about “I want to seek the type of notoriety that people want to be like” or even “If I were rich I would be sitting pretty and never have to work another day in my life?”

Sometimes our focus can be out of touch with reality. We always seem to want more of everything when we do not have it. Now, that is not necessarily a bad thing because we all have goals and dreams. We are here for a purpose and a mission. We have desires of exploration, wonder and excitement. We can grab for a dream that could easily turn into a nightmare if we are out of step with God.

All too often, we find lottery winners who get out of step with their winnings and wind up penniless and homeless due to poor choices. However, poor choices are often a result of poor habits. Sometimes many people want that taste of fame in front of thousands of people, but the fatigue and stress from keeping up that façade of celebrity expectation can take a toll on your mind, body and soul. Often the notoriety can become so overwhelming that it can possess a person’s spiritual, mental and emotional health.

Do not compare yourself with others and know that your gifts and talents are for you. Your gift can shine brightly, but sometimes your starlight will not shine as bright in front of an arena of people, as it can in front of one person or a small group of people. Your dreams can be achieved when you have help and are around positive, edifying and encouraging people. Folks who have a negative vibe or those who can be disparaging, jealous, discouraging or just simply try to hold you back cannot be in your circle of influence. Nevertheless, these individuals can still serve a good purpose and that is to be an example of what you do not want to become. Pessimism is very counter-intuitive of optimism. Pessimism is also toxic.

It is very hard to travel far and quickly or achieve your dreams in due season, when you have a heavy load of excess baggage strapped to your back!

A Memorable Day of Celebrations!

Today was a great day of celebrations! First, like many people around the country, I celebrated National Wear Red Day! Approximately 1.2 million people in the United States have heart attacks and around 42% of heart attacks result in death among men and women in the United States. By wearing red today, I wanted to join in solidarity with people who are either honoring, remembering or celebrating someone who survived the results of a heart attack or cardiovascular disease. This month is National Heart Month. Learn more about heart disease because you never know when it will come in handy for you or someone you love!

I was also informed today that I was chosen as one of the volunteers to help give out free copies of one of the books I selected on World Book Night, occurring on April 23, 2012! The purpose of World Book Night is to give away books to new readers, by sharing your passion for a great book and to help encourage reading. The committee from World Book Night extended the deadline for volunteer applications, no later than Monday February 6, 2012. http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/ I am absolutely delighted, honored and can’t wait to pass out my books to encourage reading and to help promote literacy!