Everyone has challenges in life, whether it is passing an exam or getting a job. The challenges in my life have been many, from the moment my identical twin sister and I were born 32 years ago at Kingston Hospital, Kingston upon Thames, UK. She was born minutes before me, and from the moment we were born, there was the struggle to breathe, to survive. Natalie did not get the opportunity to do either of these things, as she passed away 9 days later. I won my struggle two weeks later, but it came with a price: I was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus due to a severe brain bleed which almost claimed my life on more than one occasion.
My second challenge was coming home, where I learnt to suck and swallow after another long struggle. I was judged as being globally developmentally delayed, as I did not reach milestones, but with time I did.
Education posed a huge struggle for me, and at every turn I was faced with challenge after challenge, but, as I said in earlier blog posts, I managed to get a good education and a degree. The other constant challenges I faced, and still do, are society's acceptance of me and my disabilities, and the assumption that as I am as intelligent as the majority of people (here, I will not use the phrase 'of normal intelligence' like the doctors did in my history, as everyone is clever in their own way), I can sort out the struggles I face just by 'being positive'. Believe me, it is really not that simple or clear-cut, especially when trying to get housing or publish my first novel, both of which I am trying to do at the moment.
In spite of all these adversaries, I love a good challenge-who doesn't? unless you are naturally very shy, or very lacking in confidence.
In the past few years, I have repeatedly done various reading-and -writing-related challenges, but they all have one thing in common: they are all related to the written word.
I have participated in the Dewey's Readathon five times, NanowriMo once, and Camp NaNoWriMo twice, and am 48 hours away from participating in my second NaNoWriMo. Of course, I am participating in the 30 day blogging challenge too!
I used to be scared of challenges, but as the years went by, I found people who believed in my abilities, and that in turn made me believe in myself more. Sometimes people still get it wrong, and think I am still that mousy, scared little girl who was too nervous to speak up for herself, but time changes people, and in my case I think it has definitely changed me for the better. There are still situations where I get nervous, just like there are for everyone, but I have more drive to give every challenge I face in life my best shot.
A Final Word.............
Well, we've come to the final blog post for me in my thirty-day blog challenge, and I cannot express how enjoyable it was, and how much it has helped me improve, not just my blog, but also my confidence when blogging. I did not know it existed until I did a Facebook search for personal blogs. Before I started the challenge I thought that writing a blog post everyday day would be hard work, but, as I progressed through the challenge, I've realised that it was not as hard as I thought it was going to be. I struggled at some points in thinking about what to write about and also in thinking up blog entry titles that would make people WANT to read my posts, but I just asked around in the group, and people were really helpful. This is another great thing about this group: people are so helpful , friendly and approachable.
I had no doubt, that after writing three novels, I would be able to complete this challenge . I will be doing it again (and I would always in a heartbeat) .
I have met so many great people this month, and thank you very much to Sarah and Kevin for doing a great job in organising this event. I will definitely be spreading the word about other people joining you in this great challenge. I am sad that it has gone so quickly, but I will never forget this amazing experience I have lots of blogs, and there is no doubt that I will be doing this again in the future at some point so that I can improve those blogs as well. I am so pleased at the increase in traffic to my blog, and also my increase in followers. Most important for me is other people's belief in me, which just makes me feel I can conquer the world, and that the people who criticised my blogs before I did this challenge were so completely WRONG! I have my writing style, and I will never stop blogging Thank you so much Sarah Kevin and everyone else! you are all amazing people.
I can't WAIT to see what chllenges lie ahead for me in my life, and plan to taxkle each and every one head-on!
Stay in touch with me:
https://www.facebook.com/katherine.hayward.94
https://www.twitter.com/theglitzqueen
https://www.facebook.com/KatherineHaywardMyLifeWithCerebralPalsy?ref=ts&fref=ts
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