Thursday, January 31, 2013

Striving for Excellence or Addiction to Struggle

Some people love challenges. Some people fear challenges. There are those who are called adrenaline junkies. Whenever I see a guy risking his life in extreme sports I wonder why they do that. I can't help to think they are just suicidal and shake my head at them.

Two days ago my perspective on these people changed. Two days ago I made the decision to participate in the A to Z Challenge. Although I thought it was a great concept and idea, I was also reluctant.

Everything in this world has its counterpart. You know, the Ying and Yang. There is good and there is evil. There is light and there is darkness; Hot and Cold, Firm and Changing, etc. All humans also have their counterparts. Some may realize where they are, some may not but this discovery is each person's job. Dragons don't mess with that (to some extent.) In any case, we also have our counterpart. I call it the Dragon Slayer. He represents all the things that cause me conflict, fear, anger, and more often than not, pain.  The Dragon Slayer and I have fought endless battles against each other for centuries. I have many battle scars to prove it, seen and unseen. The field for excellence where we've fought for years now is my health. Sometimes he wins terrain, sometimes I win. We battle every single day.

Dragon Slayer makes propositions "of peace". If I give up fighting for some things, pain will cease. It's really a ruse. There is always a catch, and the price to pay is higher in the end. My ninja muse is my Lady of War. Her challenges and ideas, although difficult, are always part of a major strategy against the Dragon Slayer. It's like S.E.A.L training. She faces me with my fears, so I attempt to defeat them, control them or solve them. If I do, the Dragon Slayer looses another ace in our war.

That's why I said she laughs at the face of my fear, and I laugh at her laughter. Nevertheless, I am not immune to fear and pain and that's why I hesitate to take up the challenges.

In the A to Z case, the points that drew me back were,

1. It requires commitment. (I don't make plans. How a day comes depends on my war with Dragon Slayer)
2. It requires time. (Same as above. If I am losing a combat, I might not have time.)
3. It requires to write on demand. (I don't know how to call on creativity at will.)
4. Many people will read you. (This is both Yeepiii and Arggh to a dragon secluded from people for  many years. I am only used to dwarves and a selected knights.)

Above all things, I never break my word once I have engaged it. It is a matter of honor. Father Dragons don't take their honor lightly. But as Captain Jack Sparrow said, "The problem is not the problem but your attitude about the problem." In this case, the challenge is not the challenge but the effort that involves for me to enter and do it. I have to manage to stay up of things for a month. Two days ago I was up. Now Dragon Slayer won the upper land. I must regroup and regain my position.

I have signed up on the challenge. My word is engaged and I shall keep it. This is like extreme sports for me. If someone would ask me why I do this to myself, my answer is:

"Because it feels darn good when you conquer and defeat your fears."

So have you signed up for a challenge? Have you found where is your counterpart? Do you need a Dwarf Cheering Squad?

35 comments:

  1. I completed the Challenge last year and loved the experience. However, it greatly helped that I'd pre-written posts about my Louisiana theme. Having said that, I'm in the throes of "Bayou Princess" and thought not to enter this year because of commitments there (like you mentioned). But, I think I'm changing my mind. :)))

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    1. I am glad for you, Kittie. We'll make our best! :D

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  2. This will be my fourth year - if I can do it, you can do it.
    And feel free to start composing some of your posts now. I found selecting a theme for the Challenge really helped.

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    1. I will heed the voice of experience then. Thanks for the vote of confidence!

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  3. I'm passing on the AZ this year. I've never done it, but already know that there won't be any free time to participate. I'm struggling along with the schedule I have as it is.

    Good luck on it, though. That suggestion Alex offered up sounds like a good plan!

    Also...if you need help with your icons, I can offer my services. I left a comment on my blog about how to do it. It's a little tricky, so after you find the icons you want, let me know and I'll fix them all up for you.

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    1. I think your site is anti-dragons, Mike. I've caught it eating my comments several times. Thank you for your kind offer. I will follow your instructions and call on you when something explodes. :)

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  4. You're a strong dragon. You can do it! Even quick dragon facts for a month would be cool and not too taxing on the creativity. But I understand the anxiety. Whenever I say I'll do something, I hate to fail. And sometimes the worry of failure is what causes us to screw up. (Notice how I posted my Imaginary Friend post a day early...I have worried all month about forgetting to do it...I did it too soon!!)

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    1. Hahaha, you've nailed it, Elizabeth. Gawd, you're brilliant! No matter if you post a day earlier, your fans love you. ;)

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  5. Here's to getting those fears conquered. I'm in for the second year in a row . . . "gasp! choke!"

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    1. Cheers! And here's to wonderful encouraging people. :D

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  6. I need a dwarf cheering squad!! haha...I was reluctant to sign up for this for the same reason as you...but I signed up, for the same reasons as you!! I even have my list of topics ready. Now all I'll have to do is write interesting stuff about them. Every single day. hmmm....Good luck with it. I promise to stop by and cheer you on!

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    1. Cheering squad is already practicing new cheering routines so no worries, there will be plenty of cheering. :D

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  7. Thanks for making me feel guilty! Lol. I really do want to do it, but with my kids, it's just not possible.

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    1. Alright, you can lead the cheering emergency team then, hahaha. ;)

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  8. For a dragon with hot, flowing breath, what's 100 words a day, excluding Sundays?? Don't wimp out. Take a deep breath, hold it (but don't implode), do a Zen thing, pray to the Lord, and let your creativity fly! My gracious, can't create on a whim! relying on ninja muses and dwarfs! Pshaw! Feed off of that daily battle and spew it in your writing. Nothing to it....

    That said, this'll be my first time doing this challenge. Let's hope I don't start whining about not having time to do a post and decide to put out garb just to get something out.

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    1. Hahaha. The Dragon Ancestors must have sent you to keep my funny bone worked out and fit. :) Thanks for the vote of confidence. Let's do those exercises together and see if creativity flows right. If not, we will at least laugh ourselves through the whole challenge.

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  9. I participated a couple of years ago and it brought lots of new followers to my blog and I started following a lot of great blogs through it as well. I like a good challenge, so I sign up to things like NaNoWriMo too. Even though they're hard work it's so rewarding to accomplish something like that. So I've signed up this year too. This time around I'm planning to write and schedule all of my posts in advance so I don't have to write every single day.

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    1. That's the recommended advice. I'm glad you're on board, Anstice. :)

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  10. What an amazing post! I'm so glad you signed up for the Challenge! Words are powerful things, and though you may be talking about one thing, the reader might well be getting something else from your message.

    As for the challenge, don't worry about it. You have a couple of months to work on it. If creativity strikes during that time, and it begins with a specific letter of the alphabet, save it in draft form until it's time to publish it. I'm making all my crochet posts ahead of time, because I have some wonderful followers there, and I want to give them something special. It takes time to design and test patterns - even simple ones, so I started working on it this month.

    No stress. Life is too short. So glad to have discovered your blog and look forward to reading much more here. Best of Thursday to you!

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    1. Thank you M.J. The Dragon Cave is all set to give the best in this challenge, as in every other challenge. Best of Thursday to you too and thanks for your words! :)

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  11. I've never done AtoZ, but if I did, I'd choose a theme, let that-combined with the letters-spark my creativity, write brief posts, and schedule them ahead of time in Blogger so they fire off every day on their own. Voila! Easy! :)

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    1. Have you signed up yet? It's always good time for a first time. :D

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  12. PS: If you need something to help you with certain letters, try Googling (for example) '7-letter words that start with V', then scroll down the list and let your muse take over. ;)

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  13. I've signed up and chosen a topic . . .not sure anyone else wants to know the A to Z of fencing terms, but that's what I'm going with for April.

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    1. I would. I love fencing and it comes in handy when your characters are supposed to know how to use a sword and you don't. Great idea, Tyrean!

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  14. You can do it! Drive back the Dragon Slayer and show him you're not afraid. (Just not MY Dragonslayer as he must sell books for me!) I signed up for the Challenge. The biggest part of it for me this year will be finding the time. I'm losing an hour or two a day with my son growing out of naps. It means I must not give in to procrastination and I must write fast.

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    1. You're right, Christine. Say no to procrastination (this word is a full mouth for me.) I'll include the post writing in my To Do list next week. :)

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  15. Last year A to Z was exhausting, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I already wrote 10 posts for this April. This month I'll write 10 more and then in March I'll write the remaining 6. I learned to plan ahead.

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    1. That sounds like a very good plan to me. 10 in a month doesn't sound so exhausting. Might copy you.

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  16. I'm the same way, about following through once I've given my word on something. A to Z is a wonderful exercise and a fantastic way to make great friends in the blogosphere. As noted above, it's exhausting, but totally rewarding.

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    1. So let's put those brain cells to work as of right now! :D

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  17. I haven't signed up...but I will. I completed the challenge last year. I signed up at the last minute and did all my posts on the fly. It. Was. Crazy. But I did it and survived. (; I'm hoping to be more organized this year, but sometimes I have problems with "organized." I'll be looking forward to your posts Father Dragon!

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    1. And I will be looking forward to yours, Elise. I'm also a disaster. I think I'll write about that in D. Disaster Dragon. Hahaha.

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