It happens only once every four years and it’s tomorrow! Of course, I mean leap year. Tomorrow there will be an extra day in this year, a little more time to do something special that we wouldn’t otherwise have. What will you do?
Before you answer that question, take a few minutes to think about how you DON’T want to spend your extra day – bingeing, totally obsessed with food, hoping and praying for a better life without taking any action to make that happen, or recuperating from a sugar hangover.
Whether you’re in recovery or still searching, how you spend the extra 24 hours that are given to you this month is up to you. Many times, food addicts, both those who are recovering and those who have yet to find recovery, spend more time reacting to life than they do acting in a deliberate way to make their lives better.
Rather than waiting for someone else to plan your day, decide what you want to do. Instead of working your schedule around everyone else’s take a few hours to do what matters to you. If you have small children or other responsibilities, arrange for relief and take time for yourself.
At first, it may not seem like it but the gift of an extra day can make a profound difference in your life. We meet food addicts all the time who come into our programs saying that they couldn’t continue to binge for even one more day. It was on that one day that they hit their bottom and never wanted to live a food-obsessed life again. That was the day that everything changed for them.
The first day of recovery, the first 24 hours of abstaining from bingeing, was the beginning that created a life filled with hope rather than desperation. It was that first day that provided a foundation for a life once unimaginable.
So, when you wake up on February 29th, take a few minutes to think about the value of having an extra day and make the most out of the next 24 hours!