I sat down today to write my gratitude post for this month, as my mind is muddled with a lot of thoughts. When the going gets tough and your mind is just not able to think straight, it is even tougher to focus on the positive. I have been in this frame of mind for months now, but I know that this is the time that I must firmly steer myself back to feeling happy and positive.
Here’s a recap of February:
Health
February continued the downward trend as I struggled with some more cough and wheezing. The damn cough was tiring me out, physically making every part of mine ache and messing up with my mind. I sat and bawled one day and also went totally quiet on the family which freaked them out. But then I picked myself up and went to the doc again. She gave some medication to ease the suffering. It took two more weeks but then a day dawned when I stopped coughing. Seems so small but then when you have been coughing for weeks, you know how big this feels. So grateful for feeling totally healthy again. Hopefully since it is already getting warmer, the allergies etc. will be at bay.
Fitness:
While I try not to be obsessive about it, I do feel miserable when I don’t workout. When sick, I avoided most things except outdoor walks. I also restarted Pranayam and chanting and have been diligently doing them for 2 weeks now. Strength training and runs/walks are regular. Seriously, I have no weight goals. I don’t even weigh myself any more. I just wish to stay healthy and fit. And I know that any extra weight that I may have gained will get taken care of with a regular fitness routine anyway.
If you still have not, you have to incorporate strength training to your fitness routine. Here’s a post I wrote about it. Those of you who want a better definition to your body and a stable weight need to start it today. Also don’t forget meditation. In our highly stressed life, we often forget to pay attention to our mental healths.
Work:
The regular long-term projects are going well for which I am very grateful. Am definitely looking out for new projects to replace a couple that I finished. The most stressful part is doing campaigns for brands and waiting endlessly for payments. Looks like March will be spent in chasing payments and I absolutely abhor that. Never cease to feel grateful for being able to work from home and get paid for it. I just wish some of these PRs were more professional and hassle free to work with.
Blogging and social media:
I have been pretty regular with my blogging. As a matter of fact, I don’t schedule anything for my blogs. Try to put out a post a week for each and don’t stress too much if I don’t. Pinterest is going steady. Here’s how this month went. Overall, monthly views went up to 2.5 lakhs. But what is more important is the number of clicks.
This month I got 1050 clicks on my food blog and about 500 clicks on this blog from Pinterest. Compared to 700 clicks on both last month, this is a motivating two-fold increase. I went over 500 followers on Pinterest from 174 on 1 December. 🙂
This is my Pinterest profile in case we are not connected there: https://www.pinterest.com/rachparm
Apart from manual pinning, I have been using TailwindApp to schedule my pins and keep track of analytics. I now schedule 25-30 pins daily at the most optimum times of day using Tailwind. Give Tailwind App for Pinterest a try if you are working on Pinterest. If you use my link, you will get $15 off on your account when you take a paid plan or you can try one month free in that money. Just click the picture below or the link I shared here.
I am also happy that on Instagram I now have 1300+ followers compared to about 500 during end December. The engagements on the posts have also gone up. Pretty good for a 2-month period.
If we are not connected on Instagram, let’s rectify it: www.instagram.com/rachna.parmar
Also my social media tip is to just switch off and move away when something or someone bothers you. You don’t need to constantly grapple with irritating stuff just because you feel guilty of muting someone or unfollowing them. Always put your mental sanity ahead of everything else.
I am also currently doing a certification course that will further hone my skills. Will let you know once I complete that.
Valentine’s Day:
Though I don’t really celebrate, this year was quite fun. I ended up making pasta and cupcakes. And the husband got me flowers for a change. We had a quiet dinner over good food, wine and laughter with the family.
Grateful for yet another fun-filled day with the family. Sometimes, it takes something so little to fill you with joy. This was one of those days.
Family and friends:
It is my elder sister’s birthday today hence a special day. She and I are thick as thieves (Thank God for it!). I can tell her just about anything and share any angst with her. So grateful for her supportive and loving presence in my life. May God bless her with a happy and healthy life. Also grateful to my wonderful family who floor me with their concern, help and love while also driving me nuts. A special mention of my dearest boy, Coco for his sagely demeanour and warmth.
My friend M is another person who is really close to me. She and I can discuss anything under the sun and I am so grateful for her. And my sons who are such a support system emotionally for me. Grateful for them. Do spend more time with real people sharing tales and exchanging smiles. No amount of online hugs or love icons can ever substitute for it.
Cooking
I do love cooking if someone else cleans and does the prep. 😛
Since Holi is near, you may wish to try out my gujiya, dahi vada and Thandai recipes and brighten up your celebration.
Entertainment:
I’ve to mention this show, This is Us, that I watched this month. A family drama, this show was so touching and emotional. I must have cried in many episodes and there is so much one can relate with. You must watch it. I can’t recommend it more. But after that emotional onslaught, I stayed away from watching any more shows this month. I read Big Little Lies after watching the TV series and loved it. Definitely better than the series. As a woman in my 40s and a mother, there were many chuckle worthy moments and things I could relate with. Again a highly recommended read. I am grateful that there is so much good content and our access to it is also simpler.
Finally, I would like to conclude with these inspirational lines from This is Us:
Someday you can look back and tell someone how you took the sourest lemon that life had to offer and turned it into something resembling lemonade.
I hold on to that thought whenever a sour lemon is tossed my way.
Hope that February went well for you and here’s wishing for a good March. Do keep all our kids who are writing Board exams in your prayers and good wishes.
Do join Vidya’s #GratitudeCircle this month and every month.
Featured Pic courtesy Shutterstock
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Glad you are feeling better now, Rachna! I can imagine how much the cough must have taken out of you! Hope March is better on the health front.
Super thrilled to see your growth on Pinterest and Instagram. Very happy for you, really 🙂 You really deserve it too. Sorry to hear about the people who annoy you on social media. It can be stressful, I understand.
Wish your sister a very happy birthday from me! She sounds like a wonderful person (as most sisters are 😀 ) And aww, isn’t that sweet of Gurdev to get you flowers? They look gorgeous!
Totally love ‘This is Us’ and just started watching ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’! Top notch. (watch without the kids, though, if you decide to).
So pleased that the work front is going well too. You work really hard and deserve every bit of joy. I pray that you have wonderful assignments real soon. Wishing Sid all the best for his exams.
I’m so glad you are feeling better now! Nothing like a cough to get the whole system down. Hopefully it is away for good, now.
Your Valentine’s Day sounds so cute and personal. Thanks to a Valentine campaign at work, my husband had to work late and we ended up not doing anything that day. I did bake a delicious brownie batch though 🙂
I’m yet to watch ‘This Is Us’ and I’ve only been hearing good things about this show. That quote you have mentioned is so damn inspirational. I’ll look back it often too.
All the best with your workouts Rachna, you motivate me so much to be consistent in my workouts. Yes, I’ve started strength training too. All the best in getting your pending payments closed. This is one of the reasons I rarely accept freelance work. I’d rather not make any money than sit around waiting for it to come.
Wishing you the sweetest lemonade this March.
Good to know you are Feeling much better ..
WOWOW you do so much how do you get time to do it all , I am on none of the places mentioned Pinterest , instagram , facebook etc etc and I still cant get enough time to blog ..
JAHANPANAH TUSIN GREAT HO JI …. Salute you
I have been very very active on the physical side though after my diagnosis etc it was do or die it seemes ( ok ok i am exaggerating 🙂 ) … so back to gym for the last 4 months , running , walking and have lost a lot of weight so wooo hoooooooooooo ….
all the best with everything rachna MAM .. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Happy you are feeling much better, Rachna!
Happy birthday to your sister, and YAY! for friends! They make like so much more joyous
Good to see you back on the fitness regimen. Truly, regular exercise makes all the difference.
Congratulations on all the growth, Rachna. Hard work invariably pays off.
All that cooking and those food photos have made me hungry now!
Yep, it is tough to focus on the positive especially when there is a string of struggles, but those are the days when we need to shift perspective the most! I write in a journal on a daily basis as it keeps me open to what was good about each day, however small. You know how the small things build up to the big stuff!
Thank you for joining me in the Gratitude Circle, Rachna! I wish you a fantastic March!
Such a lovely post. Glad to see you doing well Rachna. It serves as an inspiration to many. I love your tip on maintaining ones mental sanity. I have muted a whole lot of people on Social Media, and would sometimes feel bad about it. But slowly realised its the best thing to do for my own productivity. HAvent wathced This is Us yet.. should do it sometime. All the best and hope you have a great month ahead as well.
I wish I could be right there with you and give you one tight hug. I so so understand what it’s like to not feel a 100 percent well, physically. Oh and I know the relief of finally feeling fine and being able to get back to your exercise routine. But you know what i liked best – that you switched to pranayams and continued doing whatever you could. Glad to hear that you’re feeling better.
Also, happy that you’re doing well on the work front. Getting payments is always harder than the actual assignment. There have been times when I’ve just let it go and vowed off the client.
That your blog is doing well, is one happy thought. Oh and I’m in awe of your cooking skills. Those gujhiyas look delicious. They’re so hard to make – I’m talking from experience. That reminds me I haven’t even thought what I’ll be making for Holi. And it’s tomorroooww!
Hey a big hug on the health issue; hope this tays down now!
You are the second person after Shy whose Pinterest stories are making me wanna try it out big time. I am signing up for free tailwind following your post and hope that It will push me to work more on my content and sharing. BTW congrats on the amazing stats.
Your family time seems so full of love and laughter – I pray this never ends; having supportive and loving people in our inner circle is one of our biggest strengths and joys.
All the best with the online course and hope to hear about it soonest!!
Yes, sometimes we need to focus on things going right. I had pretty bad February in terms of my health. But I had little things that brought me joy! I hope you are better now. Hope you have a Marvelous March ?
Good to know you’re doing better now. Whenever I’m down with cold my nose gets very runny and after a week I would feel blessed to be able to breathe normally – so I can relate to what you said. Take care!
And speaking of fitness, there were times I used to feel tired after working out but now that I’m consistent with any form of workout (running, strength or just exercises and badminton) I feel so fresh after my workout and I’m so charged up to take on everything I have pending on my list. It clears up the head and works miracles in uplifting my mood.
It’s nice to spend valentines day with a loved one with a small celebration, and be thankful for the people in your life 🙂 My best wishes to your sister too. I wish I could grab a cupcake there, it look so yum!
Have a great month ahead, and good luck with your work. I personally admire people who work from home because it requires immense discipline when you’re own your own.
Those stats are amazing and yay on your workout! All that dead weight lifting goes a long way. I am also trying functional training at Cult and it is great. I stay conscious of my back but otherwise it’s a good stretch!
Sorry to hear about the coughing. I can understand that. At home, VT is the one who needs all the care with the on and off cold that he catches.
Good luck to Sid on his exams and you guys are so cute. Those pics tell tales of a memorable valentine. Wishing you a lovely March, Rachna! Better health, stats and more cooking to you <3
Love that quote you shared. I have been meaning to watch This Is Us, but for now I am postponing it for a later date, mostly because I am terrible with Netflix addictions, and as of now I have a lot of behind the scenes blogging stuff to get right before I let myself get carried away with Netflix binges. 😛
Speaking of blogging – yay for Pinterest (and Instagram) growth. 😀 It must be so gratifying to see all the hard work pay off, right? I am so happy for you! And wish you lots more success! <3
And I hope you feel better on the health front too. The incessant coughing can be such a pain. I know, because I deal with it every Spring! *Hugs*