Three times in a row.
26 posts in 30 days.
I was on the verge on skipping this year’s A to Z Challenge and was prepared to not feel guilty. I was okay with the rest of my life taking priority over blogging in April. And then, I woke up on a Saturday and I decided to run with the challenge.
You know what amuses me the most?
The power of our minds. Agree or not, if you can win the battle that’s on your mind you will see how easy the journey becomes. I knew I cannot depend on blogging every day so I laid out a plan. A simple one and that was to give myself a week’s head start. That was it – I would write when I get time during the week and on any letter that comes to my mind and I surprised myself.
Another new takeaway from this year was to not stress over reading and commenting. We only have twenty-four hours a day to do many things that we do. I kept it easy on myself. Read and shared as much as I could. The days I couldn’t, I was okay with it. I learnt that I need to be kind to myself and enjoy the challenge. After all, it’s just a blogging challenge.
Three, I used technology to help myself. Scheduling Facebook posts and tweets was easy and something I had never tried. This year, it worked and made a lot of things easier for me. Stay open to new learning and life becomes easy.
I am not sure how many followers I gained or whether the stats rocketed or not but these twenty-six posts were read and shared, quoted at workplace and then over Whatsapp. Encouragement from unknown quarters warmed my heart and that stays as my favorite reflection from this year.
Yes, I am a survivor.
Thank you all for your support and encouragement. This wasn’t possible without your love!
happiness and food 
Awesome, Parul! Congratulations.
Indeed, the human mind is capable of a lot when it’s mastered. Of course, it’s also capable of a lot when it masters us.
This A-Z challenge will now be a reminder each time you think twice about whether you will succeed. Kudos!
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True that Vishal! Thank you 🙂
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Congratulations Parul on finishing the challenge. It was my third time too and I am surprised with myself because till the end of March, I had no idea I would write this time 😀
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Ha ha! Just like me. Congrats to you too.
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That’s the best part.Writing and feeling happy.Congratulations on doing it so well.
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Thank you Amrita!
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I’m glad that you found a way to make the challenge work for you. 🙂
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Thank you!
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Even your reflections are so humble and full of gratitude Parul – I have to learn so much from you! I loved reading your thoughts everyday as they reasonated so well!!
Kudos of the completion and more power to you as you rock on in life!
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Thank you Shalini for your support throughout and know that your words mean a lot to me. Grateful to have met you virtually:)
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It was lovely to read your posts, Parul. I read a few and missed a few… that is how it gets with almost all of us in April! Congratulations on completing three years in a row!
Cheers
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I agree. Thanks Geetika!
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Kudos Parul. Yes, its all about our mind. I decided to take part and survive. Though I did not wrote and scheduled all the posts but still managed to complete the challenge as I wrote only what was on my mind, what would work for me. Yay, we are survivors. Support from family matters.
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Congratulations! Glad you had a fun time and made it work.
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I like not to stress about not visiting or commenting but somehow but that didn’t happen at the beginning of the challenge but I ease up a bit a week maybe two weeks after. I think what stress most people out is disappointing people and not posting their letters on time. I know I feel a bit guilty if I’m late with a post.
anyway, congrats on finishing. have a lovely day.
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I didn’t get to comment as much as I would have liked towards the end of the month – with a new book release and work commitments it just didn’t happen. While I wouldn’t say I felt guilty as such, I did feel like the last few weeks weren’t as productive as the first for me
Debbie
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Great approach to the Challenge. Stressing over the numbers takes the fun out of it. Congrats on finishing!
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Congrats on surviving and completing A-Z! I’m impressed that you were going to sit this one out and ultimately decided against that and still managed to keep up!
With Love,
Mandy
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Congrats on finishing the challenge! I enjoyed your posts but have to catch up on the latter half.
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Thank you Sanch!
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Congrats, Parul! “Stay open to new learning” is the key to remaining active and enjoying life as we age. I sometimes resist it but blogging makes me continue to learn. And now, after a rest, I will be up to new challenges. Looking forward to more Thursday Tree Loves, too.
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I really like the attitude expressed in this post. I think you took the right approach for you and when it works, it’s a success. Congratulations!
Thanks for the Reflections.
Arlee Bird
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Congratulations, Parul! I admire your attitude. 🙂 Relax and enjoy it is the best way. Now, If only I could be more like that. It still stresses me out when I fall behind, as it doesn’t seem fair to those who took the time to visit me. No matter; life goes on…
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Congratulations on completing the challenge so successfully, Parul! I admire your attitude. Relax and enjoy the experience is the best way. I still stress over falling behind with acknowledgments. Thing is, I feel it’s not fair to those who took the time to visit me and write comments. As you said though, “it’s just a blogging challenge” and there is definitely more to life. Cheers! 🙂
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Sorry – duplicate comment.I thought the first one didn’t go through
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Well done for making it to the end of the challenge. 🙂
Cait @ Click’s Clan
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Congratulations, Parul. I couldn’t read all your posts but yes, I managed to read some. And as always your posts were inspiring and insightful. Loved the reflections here.
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