R is for Ripples #AtoZChallenge

Today's guest post is by Jamie Dorner of the blog uniquelymaladjustedbutfun.blogspot.com. She's a four time participant in the challenge, cousin-in-law to A to Z captain J Lenni Dorner, and one of the biggest fans of my adult choose-your-adventure book, "Runaway." Welcome, Jamie!

Thanks, Jayden!

I'm writing this guest post because of two posts I saw on the Facebook wall of my nephew.

I'm not the person my parents raised me to be.

You have your whole life to be the best person you can be. Each day is a present, an opportunity to do one nice thing for someone else. It adds up. Or a chance to do the wrong thing. That adds up, too. Setting goals and planning for "someday" is great, but don't forget to make this day count. The tiniest thing can make a huge difference.

You can be who your parents raised you to be. You can be whatever sort of person you want to be. It isn't usually about the big choices in life, but the small ones—they're what makes ripples in a pond.

Even the most famous, richest, smartest, and prettiest people can still feel there is someone better than them, that they are replaceable. Self-confidence is a lifelong journey, not a destination. It's not about being better than someone ELSE; it's about always working toward being the best version of yourself. That's hard. That's the challenge that everyone faces every day with nearly every choice. The path to becoming whoever you want to be one day starts with those choices.

My blog is easily replaceable. Look at how many people are in the A to Z Challenge! We all have ideas and opinions to share. Maybe I've never thought a thought that's never been thought before. And if that's so, then maybe my blog and I aren't special.

On the other hand, maybe I'll offer something of value to my readers. Maybe I'll give someone a new idea, spark some inspiration, or start a conversation that will have a ripple effect beyond what I can see. Perhaps I'll inadvertently improve the world. It's possible someone will stumble on my blog and discover that we've thought the same thought, and that will give the person comfort because they'll feel a little less alone in the world.

And you know what one nice thing I could do today is? One small choice that could make a difference? I can hop over to another blog in this challenge and leave a compliment in the comments. I can choose to try to make a stranger smile. Acts of random kindness like that do make a difference, and that's a pretty special choice to make.

Have a happy A to Z challenge!

    If you wish to include a direct link to your blog post of this day's letter, please click:
https://goo.gl/forms/uMLRUqb7gxMvKuTQ2

If you wish to visit other blogs in this bloghop challenge who have incorporated today's letter into their current post, please click:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Md9F6WzWIZauAYj2xqi3i97qJqEuOnX6SgsJic46ZC4/edit?usp=sharing    
Click here for the MASTER LIST of all participants who signed up for the #AtoZchallenge 2018! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nd9634nZWf1FmHFZ6ofKxBiIwGPWqkct9T9H5ugDQBA/edit?usp=sharing

Our life ripples out, and it has influence. That's why it's important that we're at our best and that we're influencing others for the good. - Victoria Osteen

Q is for (Don't) Quit #atozchallenge

We all know, life has this habit of getting in the way when you make other plans. That project you've been dreading at work gets pushed up into April and it's now due on May 1, come hell or high water. That child or grandchild you thought would arrive in mid-May decides he or she has had enough of life in the womb and decides it's time to be born, or, on a more somber note, someone you love dies suddenly or after a long illness. Or, maybe you or someone you love gets sick or injured and you have to walk away from the blog world to deal with that. There's nothing you can do about those things. We've all been there, and the last thing that any of us would ask you to do would be to soldier on and finish the A to Z Challenge.

But let's say that the posts you've worked so hard to write are falling on deaf ears, that nobody's coming to visit you even though you're sure you've done everything right. You've put the graphic for the challenge (below) on your blog and the one for the letter of the day (above) in your post. You've added the direct link to your blog post to the daily spreadsheet. You're returning comments you receive and reciprocating by visiting you commenter's blog and leaving a comment. You might be doing other things to promote your blog, like posting the link to Twitter and Facebook. You're visiting other blogs that you find on the daily spreadsheet or the main sign-up list and visiting the blogs of people who are visiting the blogs you read. And you still aren't getting as much traffic as you'd like.

It's discouraging, isn't it? Well, I'm here to help.

Before you even think about giving up and going home, leave a comment on this post with the name of your blog as it appears on the main sign-up list or the daily link lists. Then, go visit the blogs of the other people who have commented. Come back a couple of times to see if anyone else has commented since then and visit them.

And to those who aren't hurting for visitors, read the comments and visit the blogs of the people who left them and encourage your readers to do likewise. Let's pick each other up!


If you wish to include a direct link to your blog post of this day's letter, please click: 
https://goo.gl/forms/f9g7ZMNMOBsJqJTR2

If you wish to visit other blogs in this bloghop challenge who have incorporated today's letter into their current post, please click:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rV0aHAOFAh6QaDz2xpixSI19TEKL-JNhSxY38cHRaO0/edit?usp=sharing


Click here for the MASTER LIST of all participants who signed up for the #AtoZchallenge 2018!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nd9634nZWf1FmHFZ6ofKxBiIwGPWqkct9T9H5ugDQBA/edit?usp=sharing

Don't quit now! We're almost there!

P is for Pages #AtoZchallenge

How many pages have you read this year? In India, people spend about 10 hours a week reading. The A to Z challenge has always been predominantly authors and book reviewers, all who make excellent sources for recommending pages to read.


For those of you who enjoy participating in challenges with your fellow bloggers (I have a feeling that's most of you), and would like some extra page-turning motivation, allow me to suggest a few blogs:

The Herd Presents posted some year-long challenges in December, and adds a few more every now and then.

Wishful Endings has the Tackle Your TBR (to be read) challenge, which is in September.

Bout of Books starts on May 14, right after the A to Z challenge.

Feed Your Fiction Addiction has an extensive list.

Need some books?
If you read New Adult fiction (main characters are mostly ages 18 to 25), there's the New Adult Scavenger Hunt in June and December. If you prefer Young Adult fiction (main characters are mostly ages 14 to 18), there's the YA Scavenger Hunt - one just happened, but another comes around in October.



Are you hosting a reading challenge on your blog? Have you ever participated in a reading challenge? 





If you wish to include a direct link to your blog post of this day's letter, please click: 
https://goo.gl/326KFo
LINK TO DAILY LETTER FORM

This form will close in 48 hours.

The A to Z team recommends TimeAndDate or WorldTimeBuddy for your time zone calculation needs.
We post at Midnight GMT.
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the standard by which all time zones are based. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the time zone used for UTC. That's why we use it.


If you wish to visit other blogs in this bloghop challenge who have incorporated today's letter into their current post, please click: 
https://goo.gl/6Sdcet
LINK TO DAILY LETTER SPREADSHEET  
(If you intend to make a copy of the spreadsheet, we suggest waiting until the form closes.)


https://goo.gl/9f9mfR
Click for the MASTER LIST of all participants who signed up for the #AtoZchallenge 2018!