What would you do if you knew you had an extra day to live? How would you change if, out of the blue, you were given one additional day tacked on to your life, not at the end but right now, right smack, we hope, in the middle. What would you do?

This is a day that is just for you. You can spend it any way you want. You can take the whole day and ski or just lie in bed. You can take a hike with your best friend or go for a drive all by yourself. It is up to you. You can spend the time nurturing a grudge or cultivating some anger. You could fritter it away anxiously wondering what you should do or afraid to do anything different. It is all in your hands.

One of my most important mentors has been Thich Nhat Hahn. Once he reflected that most folk think walking on water or in thin air is a miracle. But a real miracle for Thich is not to walk on either water or thin air but to walk on the earth. Every day, he says, we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black curious eyes of a child, our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to spend your extra day engaging in miracles? Perhaps you could begin with sitting by a window as the sun begins its morning shining on the Gore Range. There is a time, only the briefest of moments, when the mountains turn pink and the day portends its promise. Or maybe you would like to linger in bed awhile, slowly breathing in the morning air, gently coming back to earth. No alarm clock blaring, no jumping out of bed, no racing to the office. Lie there. Its an extra day.

Enjoy your breakfast. Chew your food the way your mother told you, slowly. There's no rush. Look around you. Your children, your lover, your room. Savor it all. Would you like to take a walk in the sun, a stroll through the snow? You can do it. It is your extra day. Maybe there was a book you've been meaning to read. Today may just be the day.

Thinking of books, one of the best I've read in recent years is Steven Levine's One Year To Live". It is a thoughtful work that has us pondering how we would spend the coming year if we knew it was our last. One views springtime or your daughter's smile or an evening sunset differently when you know it may be the last time your ever get to enjoy them. The sadness of such thinking is tempered by the richness it brings to our experience. There is a proverb that says, "Live each day as if it was your last." Easier said than done but utterly powerful when we do.

Another maxim worth musing over is: "One today is worth two tomorrows." My friend Thich often reminds his students that we Americans are very good at preparing for life but not so adept at living it. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma and we can work very hard to get a job or a house or a new car but we have great difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive. Somehow spending an extra day worried about the next doesn't make much sense.

I hope your extra day brings you a sense of gratitude. What a shame to spend the day angry at another driver or anxious over a telephone bill. What a waste it would be to brood over some long ago hurt or nurture a budding grudge.

Breathe. Smile. You are alive. Give thanks. Smile again.
The arrival of February 29 makes such pronouncements profound.
Enjoy your extra day.