Skipper, Lana & Myla
Abundance Tribes BiWeekly Question, when I look at the rules, then I would already be late with my blog. Too bad, but this is a question I don't want to pass up. It's too interesting to even think about. Because this is also how I would respond to the Call to Action from @leofinance.
How do you keep yourself grounded?
Think about it for a moment, because it may give you a surprising answer. And to me, it may not be very surprising, but it is a very clear answer.
Uncertain times for everyone
In these uncertain times in which we all live, it is not always easy to keep yourself grounded. And everyone handles things differently, life throws quite a bit at us right now. And what I see and hear around me often startle me. It sometimes makes me stare at my screen with open mouth when I read another message about riots that have taken place to 'demonstrate against the corona policy', let me be clear about that. In my view, the deliberate destruction of other people's property, or the deliberate use of violence, has nothing to do with any form of demonstration whatsoever. Everyone has the right to agree or disagree with the measures that are currently being imposed on you, but no one has the right to intentionally harm other people in any form.
If you agree with the measures, stick to them, if you don't agree with them ... fine, your choice, but no matter if you do agree, or disagree, that is your opinion, and you cannot impose it on others. I'm not going to go into further detail about whether I agree or not. That's not important at all.
MY life hasn't changed that much
The thing is, my life hasn't changed that much. Where most people now suddenly had to deal with a lot of restrictions, catering that had to close, gyms that had to close, no more meetings, non-essential shops that had to close, wear a mouth cap everywhere, work at home, well you know it all. All measures that were taken, were subsequently released, and applied again. For most people, this was a huge limiting factor, and they felt their freedom was compromised. They couldn't just decide to go out for dinner, because there was no restaurant open to eat out. People had to adjust their lives, and that is apparently very difficult for many!
We had to adapt to limitations much earlier
Which I can understand very well! But when this situation arose, it didn't hit me so hard anymore. Because, my partner and I have had to make these adjustments much earlier. For completely different reasons, but since 2015 all these restrictions and social isolation already applied to us. For us, these limitations arose due to a lack of financial resources. Because of this we couldn't go out for dinner, we couldn't go shopping, we couldn't go to a zoo or amusement park when we felt like it, we couldn't jump in the car to visit friends. In fact, when the financial situation did not improve and we also had to say goodbye to our car after a few months, our 'friends' said goodbye to us. Where we struggled to adjust our lives to the finances, (that was even easier at the time than adjusting the finances to our lives). The bottom line was, there was no more money to be made at that time, so we had to cut all expenses. And we did! Everything that was not very necessary disappeared, and by living with the bare minimum we were able to keep our heads above water. And that also meant that we ended up in social isolation.
It took a lot of effort and pain to accept
In the beginning, it took a lot of effort and pain to accept that. Your whole feeling is screaming at you that this shouldn't be possible, you really can't or don't want to accept it. Deep down, you keep fighting that situation and only thinking about what you want. You make it more difficult for yourself than you would like.
Cutting in our spendings
Okay, so we are in 2015. The year in which my partner and I had a setback in which we received about 1,100 euros per month less in income. That is not a small amount. So we "cut" really hard on our spending, which involved throwing out just about everything we had built up that we were happy with. We kept only what was necessary, and we ended up in social isolation.
I let them go!
Where I used to often go to my sister and a few friends, that now fell away. After all, I no longer had a car, the nearest public transport here is 6 km away, and also costs money that I did not even have for that at the time. And to cycle 35 km one way to have a cup of tea with your sister, sorry, but no! I wasn't going to do that every week. And as for the friends I had, they worked varying shifts, usually only having time in the evenings. To then cycle those 35 kilometers only for an hour's visit, and again the same bike ride back in the dark through the polder. I really didn't see it that way. In addition, my sister and all my friends had a car. What struck me, however, was that when I no longer had my car, nor a telephone contract, but a prepaid card, and therefore no longer called every day… they seemed to have lost my phone number for some reason as well. The same turned out to be the case with the friendship, when I couldn't go to them by car anymore, it turned out that their cars couldn't drive the road to my house anymore. Strange but true! Long story short, with the limited options I had, I did my best to maintain the friendships, but then it turned out that despite the effort I made, I got nothing in return… I let them go! Did I like that? New! Absolutely not. It hurt me a lot because again something fell away from my life.
The dogs kept me on my feet as always
Faithful companionship and love
Because of their faithful companionship and love, I did not give up. And not giving up also meant that I kept looking for opportunities to create something of an income again. Where all the doors seemed to slam shut in front of me, there was one that seemed to open a little wider. And I knew then, I have to keep pushing. It gave me hope! And besides that… it gave me something to fight for. To focus myself on, and I needed that bit. I had already set myself the goal of getting back on track financially, but I had never found the means to achieve that goal before. Until the door of HIVE, (then still Steemit), seemed to open a little wider.
Traditional systems didn't allow me to build up, HIVE and Leofinance did!
I didn't get finances right away, no, that's not possible either. I had built up absolutely nothing, nor could I invest anything, except my TIME. And it took a while before it started to bear fruit. But perseverance combined with joy in what I was doing delivered more results from the start than I had ever gotten anywhere else. No, I didn't get rich overnight from Hive or Leofinance, but thanks to Hive and Leofinance, I have been able to do many things that I could not have done otherwise. And the most important thing is that I was able to build something through Hive and Leofinance. Where the traditional established system no longer allowed that for me, there were no prejudices on Hive. Here you are judged on what you do…not on what you could possibly do.
The difference between traditional systems and a social blockchain
With traditional employers, you are one of the many who often send a letter to start with applying for a job that makes them available. Your letter has to stand out among hundreds of other letters, and if you get to the point where you can come for an interview, you will be judged BEFORE they have ever seen anything from you. That's how the traditional world has worked for ages. If you're perfectly capable of doing the work required for that vacancy, but aren't very good at "selling" yourself, then you're out. If you also have a partner who earns just 1 euro more per month as the absolute minimum, you are out of luck, because then there are no additional financial arrangements that could help you. When you have ended up in this situation, it is very demotivating to keep your spirit high and to keep fighting for that better financial future. But besides that, the many rejections you receive on your passionate application letters make it difficult, to say the least, not to fall into the depressive negative spiral you end up in.
The world around you still supports you in the beginning and keeps shouting things like, “don't give up, you'll get there!”. But also sometimes that you are told, “You're not doing your best otherwise you would have had a job long ago”. Sorry folks, it's just not that easy!
Fast forward to what made the difference for me.
The moment I created an account on Steemit and posted my first blog. I had no idea what to do, no idea how it all worked, and especially no idea how it would help me move forward. My first blog was therefore nothing, and neither were the rewards. LOL! I just scrolled back quite a while to find out what the rewards were, and it was $0.05, which was even higher than most of my other blogs at the time. However, I have to be honest here that I absolutely didn't know what I was doing! I didn't understand much about how it worked, nor how to make a good blog.
I saw the possibilities
But I did see that there were possibilities. Instead of giving up, I knew I had to bite the bullet and keep going. Demonstrate perseverance, even if that would take a lot of time in the beginning and would yield little or nothing. I thought it was the only option I had at the time. So I was seriously reading blogs, looking at which blogs got good rewards and decided to write an extensive blog on the basics of photography. After all, I had seen that photography was well rewarded, but I had also seen many photos that made my toes curl in my boots. In short, many photos of poor quality. Sorry! Because photography is 'my thing', I thought I could spend my time writing a good basic blog about photography.
It was a game-changer
Much to my surprise and delight, this would be my first blog with a reward that even made me shed a tear of joy. I felt recognition, appreciation, and for the first time in a few years my confidence in myself got a boost. I did it, and my words were appreciated, I was listened to! I felt joy and hope. The future that had seemed so bleak suddenly looked a whole lot brighter, and I knew that with persistence much more could be accomplished. That day a small flame started to burn, and that flame has not yet been extinguished.
We are now almost 4 years later. To be precise, I opened my account on December 9, 2017, and on January 25, 2018 I wrote the blog about the basics of photography. In the past four years I've learned a lot, made mistakes, followed the wrong people, but most of all, I learned the warmth and appreciation of a community. And I've found that even if doors in your life are slammed shut and your finances are squeezed for whatever reason, there are other ways to get back on track. I've learned not to give up and learned to get a broader view of what's happening online.
Thanks to Hive and Leofinance
I dare to say that thanks to Hive and Leofinance I am where I am now ... and that alone is a reason to look back on the past four years with gratitude. And I would say, on to the next four years.
Never too late!
The best part of this whole blog is really NOT my story. But the story YOU can write! Because what I've done, anyone can do! It's NOT too late for that!
Everyone can do this!
Through Hive and Leofinance it is possible for EVERYONE to build up an online income. You don't have to go through a selection to apply, you don't have to deal with a boss who determines whether you are suitable for the job they have to offer. You don't have to write a motivation why you would be the best for this position. And you don't have to be afraid of rejection, which then demotivates you again.
It's hard work, yes, but it is possible!
The only thing you have to do is open an account on Hive, after which you automatically have access to Leofinance and all other tribes that Hive is rich in. You can always find a niche where you feel comfortable, and the moment you write or talk about what you love to do, the moment you show genuine interest in others and actively respond to other people, I promise you, the reward will follow automatically. And seriously, EVERYONE has their own story, their own hobbies, their own life and their own qualities. All this together means that everyone has something to blog about. The blockchain is for everyone, and so it is really possible for everyone to build that online income, and those friendships and broadening of interests. The Blockchain is an INCLUSIVE world in which no one is excluded, unlike today's society which threatens to become more and more EXCLUSIVE.
So now I have written a whole blog … and finally I come back to the question I started with;
How do you keep yourself grounded
For starters, the dogs. The fact that they are always there for me unconditionally gives me the strength to do the same for them. To do that I have to keep my feet on the ground, stand strong in situations like now where life is getting harder for everyone, and an unknown enemy is limiting us.
As it stands now, I am mainly at home with the dogs, I go for a walk in the area and I visit the crowded places as little as possible. We almost never get visitors, and I rarely visit. In short, I live my life and focus on the things I can do. And that is boosting my income by blogging, rediscovering my creativity and painting again… (which reminds me I have another painting what needs to be completed), I network with people I have met thanks to Hive and Leofinance, I brush up on my knowledge and Leofinance in particular has proven to be an excellent source of information for this, and in addition ... I listen as little as possible to the news.
The second thing to keep myself grounded is to keep my goal in mind. And that is ultimately achieving a life-changing income with the help of Hive and Leofinance! And the way things are going, I feel like I'm going to get that done. It won't come easy, it's hard work, but again EVERYONE can do it. As long as you keep your goal in mind, and don't forget to keep enjoying what you have!