04 April, 2014

#atozchallenge: Giving Up Stress or How the Grinch Stole My A to Z Challenge


Every blogger online liked A to Z a lot...
But the Grinch, who lived just north of the web, did NOT!
The Grinch hated the Challenge! The whole blogging season!
Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
But I think that the most likely reason of all,
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.
Whatever the reason, his heart or his shoes,
He stood there during the Challenge, hating the news.
Staring down from his cave with a sour, Grinchy frown,
At the warm lighted blogs below in their web-town.
For he knew every blogger doing A to Z this day,
Was busy now writing what they wanted to say.
"And they'll be posting those blogs!" he snarled with a sneer,
"Tomorrow another day of the Challenge will be here!"
Then he growled with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming,
"I MUST find some way to stop the Challenge from coming!"
       (Poem borrowed heavily from Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas")

So you know what he did? The Grinch stole all my letters! And now the A to Z Challenge will have to be completed my someone better.

That's what happened. Cross my heart.



________________________________________________________


Sometimes life strikes and we just have to plow through it. At other times, the worst thing we can do to ourselves is force more stress on an already taut tightrope. The latter is me.

My husband and I had the most unexpected blessing fall into place this week and are now planning a move into our first house. While this is cause for much thankfulness and excitement, it has also brought a mountain of stress into our lives. It didn't take long for my stress level to rise beyond what is healthy for me. In an effort to relieve the pressure and make this a pleasant time, I have been eliminating unnecessary obligations from my schedule. The A to Z Challenge is one of them.

I looked forward to sharing my love of all things Seuss with you all and regret having to stop so close to the beginning. But this is a good and important step in our lives, one that I am so thrilled to take. Putting my online writing on hold is worth that step.

Thank you all for your support and comments over the last few days. I'll still try to stop by and read your ongoing entries, even though I may be somewhat ghostlike in my presence.

And, please, if you liked the idea of Dr. Seuss-inspired entries and stories, sign up to receive updates from this blog. I still want to do it - it's just been delayed by a couple of months. Maybe summer Seuss will be just as exciting.

To all the A to Z participants: good luck and keep going!



19 comments:

  1. Good luck with your move and do keep the stress down! I know how important that is.

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  2. I hate moving, so I hope things go well.

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  3. Oh moving is the worst. Hopefully next year you can jump back in. Loved your take on the Grinch, I buy it.

    Brandon Ax: Writer's Storm

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  4. How exciting, but yes, very stressful! Love the Grinch story though. Congratulations!

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  5. Congrats on the new home. That's wonderful news. I loved your Grinch poem. Dr Seuss is my hero! (Odd for a horror writer, huh?)
    Lexa Cain’s Blog

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  6. Congratulations on your new house! Don't worry about the challenge... I have been starting to feel that way with all the blogs, as well, and took a mandatory two day break from commenting just to get my energy back. I really loved your blog though, so I'm going to keep following it. :) Cheers!

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  7. Good luck with the house! Sorry it's come right in the middle of April, but with luck, if the flobberworms don't eat it, there'll be another April next year :)
    Jemima
    #TeamDamyanti
    Blogging from Alpha to Zulu in April

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  8. How exciting to have a new house. The challenge will be there next year and think of all the new grinchy things you'll be able to share. Good luck!
    http://yeakleyjones.blogspot.com/

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  9. Yes, I'm sorry you won't be joining us on this particular journey, but what an exciting reason! Enjoy the new house-iness.

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  10. What a great way to bow out of the Challenge. I understand completely as last year I had to stop at J due to an overload of paying work obligations.

    Good luck with the move and enjoy the home.

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  11. That is very exciting about getting a house, and very worth not doing the Challenge. Sometimes there is just too much going on and some things must be dropped. I hope you get over the stress though, that is never fun.

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  12. What a fantastic reason, enjoy the move (and try not to stress too much), see you next time. ((hugs))

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  13. I loved your parting poem--what a great way to put things on pause! I hope you're getting settled into your new home and things are easing in the stress department:)

    WriterlySam
    Echoes of Olympus
    A to Z #TeamDamyanti

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  14. That's right if you're going down, you should be swinging! Loved this post. I moved about 6 months ago so I TOTALLY understand. Don't worry you'll get to try again next year and it's the 15th and you're still on my list so I came by anyway. I hope you get settled soon.

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  15. Fabulous post and link. Nice to meet and connect through atozchallenge. http://aimingforapublishingdeal.blogspot.co.uk/ Your new follower!

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  16. The only reason I did the A to Z thing again this year is because I pre-planned and scheduled all of my posts. I had deadlines this month and only had to visit blogs instead of post. So I get it! I followed you on twitter. Good luck with your writing!

    Hope you are enjoying the A to Z Challenge. Here's my post for today on Memorable Characters.

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  17. Congrats on the new house! Moving is definitely a stressful time, and I completely understand needing to put the AtoZ challenge on hold. There's always next year.

    TaMara
    One of AJ's AtoZ wHooligans
    Tales of a Pee Dee Mama

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  18. Congratulations on the new home!
    Hope everything went smoothly and you've settled in!
    Writer In Transit

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