Who doesn\u2019t love a leap year? An extra day to fulfil your dreams, a gift from the calendar of life. The word leap refers to the jump that your birthday will make in 2024, as if you celebrated on a Monday the following year your birthday would fall on Tuesday. However in a leap year it\u2019ll hop by an extra day giving you one bonus spin on the Earths axis. The 366th day is added to keep the calendar year synchronised with the astronomical or seasonal year, and personally I find this deeply significant. I suggest you grab the bull by the horns and use one of your 366 as a time to plan for the (leap) year ahead by placing some stepping stones in your river, markers of the dreams, plans and goals you have in your mind, your heart and your soul.<\/p>
So, what is it you want out of this year? Me, I want to regain my fearlessness in the big surf, as after a few knocks and negative interactions out back, combined with a run of rubbish sessions and North-Easterlies squashing the swell on our local break Mother Meor, I feel lost and limp and like giving up. Surfing can be a cruel sport and other surfers are a part of the problem, but far worse is the power of your own mind to poison your performance. Last winter I was charging swell way out my league with little consideration for technique and emerging mainly triumphant, this year with the necessary advent of a new (hard)board - my first - offering proper rails and fins and turning ability, suddenly the pressure has ramped up to become a \u2018real surfer\u2019 and I\u2019ve come unglued. The solution? I\u2019m not completely sure to be honest, but I\u2019ve had enough of worrying and not enough time smashing waves like I was last January, so next time there is proper swell I am going hard and leaving my doubts on the shore.\u00a0<\/p>
There are other goals, other stones to place, but for now I am naming just one. I recently learnt that before 1900 the word priority was only singular. There was no such thing as priorities, the word referred to the very first or \u2018prior\u2019 thing. So my priority today, which I am naming and placing in my river, is to charge like a bull at Pamplona and surf like I don\u2019t give a damn.<\/p>
And what about your stepping stones? What form will they take? They could be in the shape of bouys, marking a dream you wish to move towards. You want to go travelling, so take practical steps to implement your journey; save money, learn about your destination(s), make contact with like-minded others . They can be flags you check in with as you pass them daily; this one reminding you to call or meet up with your friends more often, that one to rest when you need to, yet another to sign up for the pottery\/yoga\/language class you\u2019ve been wanting to go to for ages. They can be stepping stones you place permanently that allow you to traverse the ever-flowing river of life with your daily\/weekly\/monthly\/life goals, lasting improvements to how you live your life that become second nature. Say you want to eat better and ditch the junk food; great, but cooking from scratch requires prep and planning so make time to source the ingredients you need and build space into your schedule to cook the food you want to eat. You\u2019ll feel a million percent better for doing so, not just for the nutritional value but for the fact that you actioned your goal.<\/p>
My advice is to place your stones with intention. Place them with equal parts pragmatism and optimism. Place them with self love and respect for others, with consideration for your local environment and love for Mother Earth.\u00a0<\/p>
In the words of Gary Keller \u201cPeople do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures\u2019. <\/em>Gary Keller author of \u2018The One Thing\u2019.\u00a0<\/p> <\/p>","urlTitle":"lotus-life","url":"\/blog\/lotus-life\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/lotus-life\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/lotussurf.co.uk\/blog\/lotus-life\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1704884936,"updatedAt":1707393966,"publishedAt":1707393966,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":309190,"name":"Lotus Surf Co"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/onmr1joh88cilxo3vxyr0sawey6xaxbzvryudp9wlflejhg7.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/onmr1joh88cilxo3vxyr0sawey6xaxbzvryudp9wlflejhg7.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/onmr1joh88cilxo3vxyr0sawey6xaxbzvryudp9wlflejhg7.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":54986,"title":"Andrew Syms Biography","url":"\/blog\/https-lotussurf-co-uk-collection-andrew-syms\/","urlTitle":"https-lotussurf-co-uk-collection-andrew-syms","division":309190,"description":"Andrew is a self taught Cornish painter whose work resonates with energy and utilises a broad range of media. Within each piece is a microcosm of dynamic pulsing forms and shapes, each interacting with the next in bold juxtaposing panes. Embracing the abstract, Andrew uses primarily acrylic on board to infuse his works with immediacy and vivid colour, also at times embracing mixed media to add variety and depth","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ob8s8ygo6vvhvsjhr2bkdix0hu65mbz3ow5pg2yekwrk0rjy.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ob8s8ygo6vvhvsjhr2bkdix0hu65mbz3ow5pg2yekwrk0rjy.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":36372,"title":"LOTUS LIFE - The M-Bomb","url":"\/blog\/the-m-bomb\/","urlTitle":"the-m-bomb","division":309190,"description":"Surf catastrophe meets the Menopause, how hormones could be ruining your ride and how (and why!) to get help with HRT.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/lcngrkzgh0cufu1oun6bxjlvrglu6ouydtrbshhg9kytqudy.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/lcngrkzgh0cufu1oun6bxjlvrglu6ouydtrbshhg9kytqudy.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":54987,"title":"Peter Beeson Biography","url":"\/blog\/peter-beeson\/","urlTitle":"peter-beeson","division":309190,"description":"Renowned painter Peter Beeson works from his studio in St Ives overlooking the sunrise, which is also which is also one of his favourite motifs. An outdoor and studio landscape painter, Peter obtained a Diploma in Art and Design in Silversmithing and Jewellery at the Sir John Cass School of Art in Whitechapel, London. After subsequently spending some years in the music business, in the 1990\u2019s he returned to his early fascination for the exploration of authentic local colour and tone in the landscape through oil painting","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/vaug2jxkedtlhjdcowg57dptq1rjz4v8qyifw1ramr8ajhxl.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/vaug2jxkedtlhjdcowg57dptq1rjz4v8qyifw1ramr8ajhxl.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}
NEXT TIME: Will waves return to Porthmeor at last, and how Lotus Surf Co is going to take the world by storm in 2024. Plus, visualise to succeed and the Three P\u2019s; Prioritise, Persevere, Payoff!<\/p>