Every Four Years

According to NASA, it takes Earth 365 days, five hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds to orbit the sun, which makes for messy record keeping if you are trying to track time according to the solar year. To adjust for those pesky extra hours, minutes and seconds, the Gregorian calendar allows for 365 days per year with a “leap year” roughly every four years to corral the extra time fragments into one additional day, making 366. Since its establishment, there have been planned events tied to leap years including American presidential elections and the Olympic Games.

Traditionally, leap years have been associated with superstitious warnings to be careful, as if the simple act of adding a day to the calendar could evoke tragedy or impending doom. However, the last time we had a leap year before this current year was in 2020 … and we all know how that turned out. What an awful year. Not only did the entire world suffer terribly under a global pandemic, but it was literally the worst year ever for my family. We lost our son, Ben, from a fentanyl overdose in January 2020 right before the big show began in March. We had to endure the chaos of illness, fear and shutdowns on top of the grief we were already trying to deal with. It was truly unbearable but somehow our family got through it together.

Here we are again, four years later in 2024 and in the middle of another crazy leap year. In addition to new conflicts in the world, the Presidential election has taken all the oxygen out of the room while we witness each event unfold. We all watched as a current President lost his moxie, a former President was grazed by a bullet, and an up-and-coming contender is now jockeying for position. Throw in a couple of conventions, some investigations and hearings, a debate or two, some media rants, protests and hate speech and I don’t expect any dull moments before voting in November. I only pray for civility and calm as we continue through the democratic process.

Conversely, the bright spot this year is the XXXIII Olympic Games currently being held in Paris, France. I had been planning all year to watch the opening ceremonies that coincidentally just happened to fall on my birthday. I had no plans other than to grab some New Moon Chinese take-out and spend the evening with my family watching the rebroadcast of the athletes parading in. It always fills me with such pride to see the nations come together, this time by boat in the rain down the Seine River. What a delightful, colorful and completely off-beat Parisian-style opening. I love how the host country makes it their own; it was like no other.

The Olympics remind me that although people have faults and don’t always treat each other with respect, there is a basic human need to take care of each other. The act of competition can bring out the best in all of us. We root for our teams but feel empathy when someone gets hurt or drops out. The athletes themselves will pick up a teammate or competitor when they fall and celebrate the wins of another with a big hug or high five. Watching this show of good sportsmanship fills me with emotion, even it’s only a commercial playing “Put a little love in your heart.”

Let the excitement and renewal of the Olympic Games wash over you and remind you of the reasons we exist here on Earth. Let it linger in your heart. Don’t allow politics to fill you with anger and cause you to lash out at anyone who disagrees with you. Think of it as a competition in the game called life. If one falls, we all fall, and we as humans do best when we support and love each other.

Susan Bolan
susanbolan710@gmail.com