Cheryl Wright

My Reflection Of The Blogging From A-to-Z Challenge (2015)

A-to-Z+Reflection+[2015]+-+LgThis was my second year participating in the Blogging From A-to-Z Challenge. I found this challenge last year by searching on the web for things blog related. At first I hesitated to sign up, being a new blogger I didn’t know if I would fit in with all the more successful and talented bloggers. I decided to accept this challenge and I am glad that I did! Many bloggers took me under their wing and made me feel that I belonged.

This year I decided to go with the theme of charities/organizations. At first I wasn’t sure if this was a good idea but I soon learned that many bloggers loved the idea.

Unfortunately, a few days into the challenge while walking home I fell. Right on my face! When people say “eat dirt” I now know exactly what they mean. I ended up twisting my left ankle, tore up my right leg, and fractured my right elbow. So this years challenge really became a challenge for me!

When my son helped me off the ground the first thing I said to him when I realized I couldn’t use my right arm to get myself up was, “Something is wrong with my right arm. How am I going to participate in the A-to-Z Challenge now?” The nurses and doctor at the hospital all had to listen to “I have a writing challenge I have to finish, I am so upset.” When I got home everyone who called had to hear about how disappointed I was at the possibility of not being able to type to finish the challenge. But determination kicked in. I really think that if I had fractured both my elbows I would have continued this challenge by typing with my nose. Can you tell I’m very dedicated to this challenge..lol

Since I am right handed I now have to live in a left handed world and it’s not easy! Since I don’t pre-write any of my challenge posts it was really hard to use my left hand only on the keyboard. Using my left arm all the time made it sore, probably because I never used it as much as I do now.

The pain was pretty bad at times. Pain medications made me drowsy. So my blogging time was cut considerably. I knew I couldn’t do all the things that I wanted to do so I had to put most of my effort into my posts and did what I could to read, comment and like the posts of others. I did the best I could under the circumstances.

I’m not happy with some of my posts as I couldn’t put the effort into them like I wanted to. As soon as my elbow heals I will be going back to edit them.

THANK YOU to all who took the time to read, comment, and like my blog posts. And also to those who decided to follow my blog. It’s much appreciated. I know I am behind in doing the same (last time I looked I had 13, 000 email) but I will be catching up little by little.

I really have no complaints. This is by far the BEST blogging challenge online! The people are awesome! THANK YOU to the A-to-Z team and all the wonderful bloggers that make April a much more exciting and fun month.

With much sadness I say good-bye to the Blogging From A-to-Z Challenge 2015. The month went by too quickly! I wish all those who participated in this challenge a very happy and successful year.

34 comments

  1. What perseverance and motivation you have shown to get through this challenge, a challenge in more ways than one for you! Congrats on a well-done job and hopefully, now you can take a breather and heal from what was a busy and traumatic month for you. Take care. Cheryl

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  2. I know all about living in a left-handed world: my stroke affected my right hand, to where I can neither write nor type with it. You did a great job keeping up, and you had a great theme.

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    • Thank you John. Sorry to hear about your stoke. That must be very hard and challenging. Will you ever be able to get back the use of your hand? I was actually thinking of downloading one of those programs that types while you talk.

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      • I can use it to hold onto things and the arm is still pretty good, but I’ve lost the fine motions in my hand, so things like typing, playing the guitar, writing with a pen etc. are out of the question, and I have to hold it steady to shake someone’s hand. But I’ve learned to live with it.

        I never had much luck with the dictation programs (MacSpeech, Dragon NaturallySpeaking, etc.); I guess I don’t speak clearly enough for them. I know that some people swear by them, so it’s worth a shot.

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        • We do have to learn to live with what life deals us. Otherwise we’d end up being grumpy people that no one would want to be around..lol I do know that sometimes there is a problem with dictation programs not writing the word you are saying. I don’t have much patience so I don’t know if it would a good thing for me or not. Take care.

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  3. You have a lot of drive. I would have given up if I’d hurt myself in any way. Congratulations on finishing.

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    • Believe me, there were some days I really wanted to give up! I am glad that the challenge is over so I can relax and hopefully mend very soon. Congratulations on finishing as well. I really enjoyed reading your poems. Do you have any books published yet?

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      • Well, I wish you a speedy recovery.
        I don’t have any published books just yet. It may be a while still, but I am putting together an ebook of my poetry and flash fiction that I’ll be sending to my subscribers. Hopefully that is a good enticement to get people signing up.

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  7. Ouch! I am a veteran of falling over and damaging myself so I can empathise from personal experience. I hope you are starting to feel better now – triple gold stars for completing the challenge successfully under the circumstances.

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    • I am feeling a bit better, thank you. It will be a few more weeks before my elbow is completely healed. It was tough, especially since when you have to type with one hand it takes forever to write something. Glad I have long fingers that could reach the keys to cut and paste..lol

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  10. Sorry about your fall… that’s such a pain. I fell more times than I care to admit, for no reason at all. Congrats on making it, Cheryl. it’s been great visiting with you in April and reading your thoughtful posts. See your around the blogosphere.

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    • Thank you Silvia. I still have so many posts to visit. But I will get to everyone, not sure in what year..lol. Take care and see you around the blogosphere as well.

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  11. Wow! What determination! It really was a fun challenge, and I’m already thinking what theme I might do for the next one. My theme was Really Cool Animals, and I learned a lot just from doing the research. Thanks Cheryl! See ya around!

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  12. I am so embarrassed to admit this, but every time I linked to your blog, I ended up at “Birthday Twin Central.” I thought maybe you weren’t doing the A-to-Z challenge. Then, I read this post about your inspiring determination, and I finally found all of your A-to-Z posts! So … I will be reading them starting today and through the weekend. I think your theme is a fabulous one, and I noticed “X” for Xerces Society … a group I called two days ago for help with a bumblebee nest in our backyard! I’m very much looking forward to reading your posts after-the-fact.

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  13. sorry to hear about your fall. Hope you are feeling better! Congrats on completing the A to Z Challenge! Looking forward to next year! See you on the Road Trip!

    Mary @ Jingle Jangle Jungle

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