"Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant."
—Robert Louis Stevenson
Once every four years, the 60th day of the Gregorian calendar is February 29, “Leap Day.” An 800-year-old Scottish tradition allowed a woman to make a proposal of marriage to a man only on Leap Day. If the man rejected the proposal, he could soften the disappointment by providing a kiss, a pair of gloves and one pound currency. As my Irish Aunt Josie would say, “The lady would be no worse off for the askin’!”
This month, we will experience Leap Day. The concept of an “extra” day is deceptive, of course, since it is somewhat analogous to my illusion that because I can leave Hong Kong and arrive in Seattle on the same day and at the same time I departed, I “beat the clock,” tricked Mother Nature, pulled a fast one on Father Time. Unfortunately, the truth is that my body will have aged, my son grown more mature and my life will be one step closer to the exit call in spite of the hour and minute displayed on my watch.
Last month, I attended a good friend’s memorial. Tim died young, a short five months after being diagnosed with cancer. The last day I shared with Tim was a long, exciting one on which our 14-year-old sons played together in a basketball tournament, coming from behind and unexpectedly winning the championship. In spite of the fact that his body had shrunk to under a hundred pounds and his pain was almost unbearable, Tim cheered for hours with the rest of us while his wife, parents and sons supported him on all sides and physically helped him stand and sit.
During the memorial service, Tim’s pastor said that Tim was an ordinary man, not a celebrity, an average guy, just like the rest of us. What the pastor did not know was that Tim was not ordinary. Tim had been granted one extra day, a very special day, a day in which he saw his youngest son run up and down the court like a young colt, to the deafening cheers of the crowd. We will never forget that day.
Last month, Muhammad Yunus, a man we would all agree is a celebrity and not an average guy, told a Seattle audience about one special day in his life. As the pioneer of microcredit in his native Bangladesh, Yunus had a chance encounter with the CEO of a French yogurt company one day in Paris. After a short conversation, the two men quickly developed a plan whereby the company would produce fortified yogurt in an edible container for hundreds of thousands of malnourished children in Bangladesh.
This is one more accomplishment in Yunus’ extraordinary life. Yunus is the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and founder of Grameen Bank. During the last 30 years, Grameen Bank has provided billions of dollars of collateral-free loans to 7.2 million individuals (including 100,000 beggars) in 80,000 villages. Remarkably, 98% of the loans have been repaid.
Though his contributions are numerous, Yunus is especially proud of his partnership with the yogurt company, since it was the result of a courageous and generous individual creatively addressing starvation in one of the poorest countries in the world. Yunus will never forget his chance encounter.
I am now asking myself: If I knew I would be given one extra day to do as I wished, who would I see? What would I say? What would I do? What would I undo? What might I accomplish?
There are only 97 leap days in the 400 years before the Gregorian calendar repeats itself. This month, we will experience one of those bonus days on Friday, February 29. Perhaps that day we might appreciate the most precious gift of all — the gift of time — and use it well.
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Eileen M. Concannon is a principal at Riddell Williams P.S., specializing in commercial litigation, mediation and arbitration. For references or comments, please contact her at econcannon@riddellwilliams.com.
