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Today is a happy moment – I’m experiencing triple joy!! Today is Christmas and the Blog Anniversary, with New Year just round the corner. 🙂
Aha!NOW is celebrating its 2nd anniversary. This blog has grown and wants to grow more.
YES, it’s been two years!
I guess when you’re engrossed and absorbed in doing something you love, you don’t come to know of it because the time flies so quickly.
I’ve enjoyed my journey so far, and I’d like to share its story with you.
The Santa Spirit and My Christmas Connection
I’m not a Christian, but I’ve been celebrating Christmas since my childhood. I’ve always been enchanted by the jovial atmosphere, selfless giving, and the spirit of life during Christmas.
My childhood hero was none other than Santa Claus himself. The stories of Santa filling the young hearts with excitement and their face full of happiness always fascinated me.
I often thought that even if I can’t be Santa, I can always carry his spirit and try to make a difference to somebody.
It is the spirit of Christmas that has taught me to rejoice life and celebrate it with all my heart. It’s taught me to value and nurture my family – where my heart lies.
Apart from my core and extended family, I now have my blog family – a community of wonderful bloggers and readers, where everybody is near and dear to my heart.
This post is about me, my blog, and you – all of us.
Why Christmas is Special to Me
Christmas to me always signifies that we need to be humble, simple, accepting, forgiving, giving, loving, content and happy with what we have.
Santa arrives during Christmas and teaches us that life is all about sharing and giving, whether it is money, service, gifts, facilities, good thoughts, positive feelings, or love.
There’s another reason Christmas has a special place in my heart. Not for a religious reason, but for a personal memory embedded deep in my heart.
It was on Christmas two years back that I started this blog!
My Blog Story
I’d be honest with you that my blog did not have a selfless and humble beginning.
It was on the night of December 24, 2010 that I discussed with my husband about finding an alternative earning source for the family.
Being a professional writer I get quite a many assignments and writing projects. But you know how uncertain it is with any freelancing jobs.
I had envisioned a blog where I could create interesting content for the readers and earn good passive income through affiliates and advertising.
My husband agreed and we took immediate action. But before that we had a good brain storming session because we had to decide on the name for the blog!
We were sure about the niche as we both had lot to say about family, self-development, life and its related topics.
So, after much debate and discussion on many names, we decided to have something unique.
Aha!NOW best described the blog as a place to find solutions and remove the barriers of problems with better insight and understanding.
Also, act as a reason for introspection and self-assessment to live life better and experience happiness every moment of life.
The Aha!NOW Journey
The two-year journey has been splendid. I did get more than what I expected – not in terms of money, but in terms of happiness and satisfaction.
I realized long back that I’m no affiliate or Internet marketer. However, I recognized my best ability is to help people and my aim is to reestablish family as the foundation for a peaceful and loving life.
My blog found wonderful readers ever willing to interact and discuss issues, have their say, and provide valuable words of wisdom.
I’m proud and lucky to have a blog community that closely associates with my thoughts. Together we have contributed enormous volumes on family and life related issues.
At present this blog has 16 important categories with 96 thought-provoking posts, including four wonderful guest posts, and about 4500 approved comments.
The Aha!NOW regular followers know that many comments are at such lengths that new posts could be created out of them!
You know I find it difficult to control my words when expressing my feelings.
But I’m overjoyed when my dear readers also let loose and flow in the sea of words – I love hearing ALL that they have to say.
I’m happy that the readers find the Aha!NOW blog and posts trustworthy enough to extensively share their life experiences and spill their thoughts and emotions in the comments.
My friends, fans, and connections in social media and social networking number in thousands. And I really rejoiced when I entered the under 100,000 club in Alexa ranking early this year.
During these two years many friends and strangers alike bestowed on me various awards, which I treasure. But what touches deep in my heart is when my posts make a difference to somebody’s life.
That’s what brings me utmost happiness and has leaded me to think further of how I can help people further.
Christmas Bells Ring Again!
Hey! It’s time for some good change!! 🙂
The ringing Christmas bells are a reminder that it’s time to get ready to start something anew on the well-in-sight New Year’s Eve.
As good things never remain stagnant and always change – my fellow bloggers, friends, and readers, now is the time for a new beginning.
No, there will not be any phenomenal change on this blog. I think it would be limited to scraping a few activities and starting some new ones.
I’ve already set my priorities in this order: family, work, blog. And my blog objective now is – help, teach, earn.
Making assessments and taking cues from my previous New Year’s resolutions, I set out the following targets to achieve in the New Year to come.
I’ll make the best use of my resources, which are my listening, counseling, coaching skills. I’ll plan to utilize them in the most effective way.
More than anything else, I now truly want to help people with their love, relationship, marriage, wellness, family, parenting, and life problems by having a one-to-one dialog.
So, here I’m taking a break to plan my next move and celebrate the New Year as well as the second anniversary of Aha!NOW.
The next post will be after New Year’s now. I hope you’ve subscribed to my blog so that you come to know of it when it happens.
Till then, be with your family, and have fun with your kids. Those of you who don’t have any – enjoy yourselves, take care of your parents and celebrate life!
Be ready for change. Be ready for more.
I’m thankful to all of you for being a part of my journey with this blog, and convey my best wishes to you.
Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to You and Yours!
Over to you –
Is Christmas special to you too? What does the Santa spirit in you make you do? How have you prepared yourself for the New Year? Are you also doing something new? Share your thoughts and plans in the comments below.