Mary Jaffe, WRAP Publisher
I’ve decided that the calendar is the only place where the extra 24 hours of 2024 will occur on a single day in February.
Instead, I’m “gifting” those hours to myself to be distributed throughout the year for my wellness. Rather than a Leap Day, it will be Leap Time, ready to be used whenever I want.
It sounds nice to have 2 extra hours each month focused on wellness, but I don’t anticipate the time being spread evenly. While I expect there to be times when I will purposely set aside a bit of Leap Time for something, I also want to recognize and appreciate the unexpected times of wellness and just let myself take in those moments as they’re happening.
Like many others, I review my Wellness Tools from time to time. I had done this on a somewhat regular basis until it began to feel like a self-imposed assignment. So now I do it when it feels right, or maybe I simply notice how certain things have become Wellness Tools without putting a label on them.
Looking ahead, I wonder if I’ll discover new Wellness Tools to add to my WRAP during the year simply by focusing a little bit of time on new things. I wouldn’t be surprised if I also rediscover existing Wellness Tools that currently aren’t at the top of my list.
I hope to take a cue from a friend of mine who recently told me that due to a major change in her life, she has decided to say “YES!” to every opportunity that presents itself, and she’s been happily finding new interests and spending lots of time with friends. Pickleball, anyone?
Recently, I was trying to figure out how I was going to make time to try new things or do things for myself that have interested me when there are so many other things that can always take priority. That’s when I realized there IS extra time this year given to all of us!
Some of the things that I hope to try at some point this year were inspired by stories or articles I’ve read, friends I’ve talked with, and just the many random thoughts bumping into each other in my head. Will I try everything on my growing list? Probably not. Will I enjoy everything? Again, probably not. Will I be happy that I took the time to do them? Absolutely!
About a dozen years ago I wanted to learn a certain kind of art but felt too intimidated and embarrassed to do anything about it. One day at a local street fair, I met a woman who was selling her paintings, and they were the style that I wanted to learn.
We chatted and I asked if she would be interested in teaching if I could get a group together. She lit up and said it was something she’d love to do, and had thought about doing, but didn’t know where to start.
A few weeks later, she was at my home teaching a group of us. It was a wonderful afternoon. After that, a few of us got together to create more, and I set up a little corner in our basement to paint.
My son became interested and we would paint together and just enjoy the process and the time together. He affectionately referred to the basement corner (consisting of a table, two chairs, and our supplies) as our “studio,” and it felt like a getaway. It was a Wellness Tool before I knew what a Wellness Tool was—and we made the time for it.
So, I’m looking at these extra hours of this year as exactly that—the gift of time. I’m also hoping that the additional 24 hours on the calendar leads to many more hours of wellness.
Related Resources
Mary Jaffe is the Publisher for Advocates for Human Potential. She joined the AHP family in October 2017. She has been working in publishing and nonprofit publishing for over 30 years. Reach her at mjaffe@ahpnet.com with your questions, comments, and ideas!
