2008 is a leap year , and today, it's leap day . Apparently, we're now astronomically in synch. Whew, some sort of calendar crisis has been averted!

I don't claim to know much about leap years, but lately I have been thinking about different kinds of leaps: leaps of faith. Not so much in the religious sense, but more in the "take a chance" sense.

We all take these leaps from time to time. We move forward and hope for the best. In fact, it could be argued that every choice you make is a leap of faith, one that sets you on a course that could affect your life's outcome.

Recently, I made a leap of faith — and a rather large one at that. I bought a piece of land, and with a contractor's help, I'm in the process of designing and building a new home. Yikes!

Sure, I worried that it's a crazy thing to do in today's economy, that I wouldn't be able to sell my current home, that I should be waiting until I'm more of a grown-up to take on this type of project.

And then I leapt.

Students, during this exciting time in your lives you're taking leaps of your own, and you may not even know it! The college you decide to attend, the course of study you select, even the way you pay for your education — they're all leaps of faith. You don't know for sure, but you hope that these decisions will pay off in the end — personally, professionally, and financially.

If they don't turn out exactly the way you planned, though, you've still gained something important: life experience on which to draw, and wisdom with which to try again.

What leaps of faith are you taking these days?