I can’t seem to resist a 30 day blogging challenge. In October it was Blogtoberfest, NaBloPoMo in December, and Small Stones in January. This month, it’s the A to Z Challenge. I am starting a few days late, but I have enough left that if I post every day, I can do the whole alphabet. Everyone else is on D today, but that’s okay.

One of my favorite memoirs, for the writing and the title and the idea, is Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life. Amy Krouse Rosenthal, the author, describes the book this way: “It is a sort of alphabetized memoir…(my) life in encyclopedia form.” When I first read about the A to Z blogging challenge, I immediately thought about her book. So, the fact that I can’t pass up a blogging challenge and that this particular one reminds me of one of my favorite books in my favorite genre of books means I’m all in. Let us begin…

A is for acceptance. Knowing my limitations. Understanding that nothing more can be done, nothing else is necessary. Agreeing with reality, not grasping or rejecting. Letting go of wishing I were somewhere else or that things were different. The willingness to tolerate what is, to meet the truth where it resides, where it rests, to stay and rest with it. Experiencing the situation, connecting with it. Making no attempt to change, protest, reject, or exit reality. Seeing reality for what it is, wholly and accurately. Welcoming, embracing the genuine nature of things. Letting go, surrendering, softening, yielding. Relaxing into what is, as it is.

In honor of this challenge, to get started in the right way, I offer you one of the all time cutest videos, Kermit and Joey Singing the ABCs.