LEAP INTO 2020
Facts About the Leap Year
Who The odds of being born on Feb. 29 are 1 in 1,461. That means that of the roughly seven billion people in the world, only about five million of them are “leaplings.” The number of leaplings currently living in the U.S. is roughly 187,000. Some famous leaplings include motivational speaker Tony Robbins, rapper Ja Rule, and singer Mark Foster of Foster the People. However, the most famous leapling is probably Superman. When you invent a super-being, you might as well give him a super-birthday. Where Anthony, Texas/New Mexico (a single town that straddles the two states’ borders), claims the title “Leap Year Capital of the World.” The city throws one massive birthday party for all leaplings but invites everyone to join the celebration. Two leapling neighbors from Anthony began the tradition in 1988, and it’s blossomed into a festival with thousands of participants every four years. It includes banquets, hot air balloons, a carnival, concerts, parades, and more. When you have four years to plan in between each shindig, there’s time to go big. Celebrate this leap year by doing something unusual or new. It’s a special day that doesn’t occur often, so make the most of it by doing something you’ll talk about for another four years.
Like the Olympics and presidential elections, leap years only occur once every four years, which is why many people look forward to Feb. 29. But there’s a lot that you might not know about this quirk on the calendar. Why To keep the calendar in sync with Earth’s orbit around the sun, an extra day is added to it every four years. Earth takes exactly 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds to orbit the sun. Those extra hours add up over time, so another calendar day becomes necessary. But a leap year doesn’t occur every four years. Adding that extra day still doesn’t quite keep Earth on track, so the calendar skips leap years that occur during century years not divisible by 400. For example, 2000 was a leap year, but 2100 won’t be. Gary here again. With Groundhog Day coming up and a certain Bill Murray movie on my mind, I want to take the time to address an issue that many of our clients face: feeling trapped in a repetitive cycle. It’s something I see on both the criminal defense and the personal injury side of my work, and while both have their own unique challenges, I can’t help but see the similarity in the ways people express being trapped in their circumstances. Relapse and Recidivism The “revolving door” of the prison system is an unfortunate and well-known reality in this country. According to the Department of Justice, over 40% of people released from prison are arrested within their first year after release . A recidivism rate that high speaks to major institutional problems within the criminal justice system itself, but that’s part of a larger conversation. My primary concern here is how I can help individuals avoid becoming part of this statistic. What we’ve seen is that addiction can be a major cause of repeated arrests, which is why we believe so strongly in rehabilitation over incarceration. Overcoming chemical dependencies and ingrained behaviors is an immensely BREAK THE CYCLE
Protecting Your Future Doesn’t Stop at the Court Room
uphill battle, but you don’t have to do it alone. There are tools, resources, and professionals that can help you along every step of the recovery process. We’ve connected many clients with these resources and are proud to say that time and time again, we’ve seen them break the cycle. Rehab and Recurring Pain Moving on after a traumatic accident can be its own vicious cycle. The many doctors’ appointments, repetitive regimens of exercises and/or prescription meds, pain that won’t go away— this is a story I’m all too familiar with. Since college, my battle with chronic back pain has felt like a bit of a “Groundhog Day” situation at times. But make no mistake, real progress is possible. Again, breaking the cycle should involve reaching out. If you feel that a treatment isn’t working, talk to your doctor. We know many resources for pain management and rehabilitation, so please know you can reach out to us for guidance. After all, our firm knows that helping people doesn’t stop at resolving their legal matters — it means giving them the support they need to make their next step forward.
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