Challenges | But I Smile Anyway...

#SoCS Feb. 11, 2023 – Heart

11 Feb 2023 20 Comments

by Ritu in #SoCS Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, heart, Linda G Hill, Socs

Linda’s SoCS prompt…

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “heart.” Use it any way you like. Have fun!

An apt one, Linda, since that heart day is creeping upon us all.

Yes, it’s commercialised, but you can hardly ignore it as the shops are interspersed with red and pink merchandise.

Cards, chocolates, fluffy toys, and silly/cute/sexy gifts that you would probably never use.

But, then again, sometimes it’s good to remind yourself of those you love and to show them a little appreciation.

Sure, it should be a daily thing, but let’s be honest. In the craziness that is life, it is easy to forget sometimes.

Just as it is easy to forget to love yourself, too.

So when heart day arrives, on Tuesday, along with anything you decide to gift to your loved one, remember that you need a reminder from yourself too.

As an aside, I got my first valentine in school yesterday. A cute little bag of sweets and a note from our head.

And in the afternoon, I received a special present from one of my pupils amidst a sea of notes from others with hearts on them for me. (I promise, I wasn’t talking about hearts, but it was Dress to Express Day – a part of Children’s Mental Health Week – and all the children were being extremely expressive!) He urged me to open it but not to show the others.

It said, “I love yuo,” (as spelt by my 5-year-old pupil).

I melted just a little.

What a way to end the term!

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Feb. 11, 2023

One-Liner Wednesday – Assumptions

08 Feb 2023 15 Comments

by Ritu in #1linerweds, #onelinerwednesday Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Linda G Hill, One Liner Wednesday

“Never assume that things will be straightforward… the minute you think that, the opposite always seems to happen!”
Ritu Bhathal

For Linda’s #1LinerWeds

#SoCS Feb. 4th, 2023 – Perfection

04 Feb 2023 27 Comments

by Ritu in #SoCS Tags: #jusjojan, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Linda G Hill, Socs

Linda’s SoCS prompt…

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “perfection.’” Use it any way you like. Enjoy!

Do you strive for perfection?

Always seeking satisfaction
Of that perfect photo
Or the perfect word
The perfect recipe
The perfect song heard...

Or is good enough, enough?
Will it get you by?

Do we need to lower standards
To decrease the pressure
And ease our mental health?

Perfection is a thing of beauty,
When it's presented to us
by Mother Nature

It shows perseverance
If we achieve it
By ourselves

Some things, yes,
They have to be perfect

But some can slide
Don't give yourself the stress

Ritu 2023

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Feb. 4, 2023

One-Liner Wednesday – Habits

01 Feb 2023 13 Comments

by Ritu in #1linerweds, #onelinerwednesday Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Linda G Hill, One Liner Wednesday

“It takes just as much time to build good habits as it does to form the bad ones.”
Ritu Bhathal

For Linda’s #1LinerWeds

Write – #JusJoJan the 31th, 2023

31 Jan 2023 13 Comments

by Ritu in #jusjojan

And, it’s a wrap! Today is our thirty-first prompt for Just Jot it January 2023. This month has felt like the longest month ever, and yet it’s flown by. I won’t say too much here because I want to leave some for tomorrow’s wrap up post. But what do you say we finish this thing with a flourish?
Linda

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 31st 2023, is “write.” Use the word “write” any way you’d like. Have fun!

Why do I write?

Because I have so much to say!

Sometimes I think I started this blog because others were fed up of listening to me blather on, so I thought that a blog would be good. I could write, as if I was chatting, and no one could stop me, or if they didn’t want to listen, they could just shut the page!

That writing culminated in me getting to know so many amazing folk in the Blogishpere, and from those early years and their encouragement, my dream of having a novel published also came true.

And now I write, still for myself, but as much, for many people who apparently enjoy my ramblings!

I’ve got through writing courses and craft books, listened to podcasts about honing my ability, but shall I tell you the one thing I have learned? The most important thing?

There is no ‘write’ or wrong!

When you write from the heart, that is the purest form of prose or poetry.

On a personal note, I must thank Linda for hosting this fabulous month. It is never easy to coordinate these things, but she is just a superstar, and I used #JusJoJan as a training month to get me back into my writing. I hope that after this month, I can take time out every day and write words on book three so I stay on track for my idea of when I would like it finished.

Farewell, my fellow #JusJoJanners!