What’s not to love about November? The cold, dreary weather? The gray skies? The post-Halloween sugar withdrawals? Anticipating the awkward conversations at family Thanksgiving?

It gets kind of a bad rap as the worst month of the year, but I actually really like November. Aside from the fact that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, it’s also National Novel Writing Month, better known as NaNoWriMo, a worldwide virtual event in which participants commit to writing an entire 50,000-word novel. It’s a big task but not an impossible one; each year about 13% of the nearly half-million participants successfully complete the challenge.

I realize this isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time, but each time I participate I come away with much more than a first draft.

1 – Knowing that I actually wrote a book makes me wonder else I can accomplish that I thought would be too hard. It makes me excited for stretch goals during the other 11 months.

2 – It connects me with a really supportive and enthusiastic community. Especially in 2020, finding a group of like-minded people that just want to be excited and happy about something is a really big deal.

3 – It’s taught me to care more about the process and less about the outcome. I don’t expect that anything I write for NaNo is going to be great, but I hardly ever make time to write something just for my own enjoyment.

In honor of NaNoWriMo, I’m challenging you to think about these 3 questions:

What big thing have you been scared to start? (I bet you could do it.)

Who supports you when you do new or difficult things? (Maybe you have a wonderful cheerleader already, or maybe that person is just waiting to be found so they can boost you up.)

What have you treated your soul to lately? (If you didn’t have to work or take care of anyone else, you could probably find time to pursue something you always dreamed of. Do more of that.)

Give your dreams a little extra life this cold, dreary month. You might find that it’s your favorite too.