Steem's official "Bridge Builder" @wesphilbin (yes, the same Wes Philbin that is in every Discord server known to man and has stretched himself so thin that he has lost weight, but did grow his hair back!) has issued a challenge contest in which we are to divulge our inmost thoughts concerning the holiday season, and you can see his post here for the "rules" for the contest. I would implore all of you rule breakers to follow all of the rules and regulations pertaining to this challenging contest with real paid winners!
So after giving it some really deep thought I sort of arrived at the conclusion that the holiday season just doesn't have the same meaning anymore; I mean the season is for a reason, but with the family it is way different.
When my daughter and her family lived 500 feet from us, we would go over there or they would come over to our house, dinner, presents, and then breakfast and presents in the morning. But along with that came all the interacting, and it was very enjoyable to have all the children around at the time. Christmas was very special with the children around.
But now that they left the state with a vow never to step foot back in this state again, we rarely see them, and my son and his family live over a hill from us, and they rarely come over either, as they have their lives and won't leave the area where they're at, so that leaves us to just take on the holiday season by ourselves.
I have my family online, and they keep me busy so it's sort of like having family, but I am reminded of the old saying that you can be in a room full of people and still be lonely. The good thing is I know of a few that are absolute gold and I wouldn't trade them for anything in this world.
So this is how I feel, whether it is right or wrong, there is a lot going on in this world, with so much division, and it is so difficult to grab onto and understand it all. I have listened to "experts" (in their own opinions) tell this guy he is wrong because he believes this or that, but it serves no purpose to cut someone down for how he feels or what he believes, because the "expert" has not worn that person's shoes, so how does he know what is right or wrong for that person?
The important part is the love that binds all of us together, and there is an age-old timeless word that says that "any house divided against itself cannot stand," but if it is built on love, you know that house is going to stand.
So these are the thoughts that are going through my mind as I write this up, and I could go on and on as it's an endless battle, a bottomless pit. I would hope that everyone takes the time to stop and "smell the roses" and look around themselves at all the life going on, and reflect on their own particular situation.
Which brings us to the end of this post, and I would like to add that there is another post going around in which @Snook, whom many on this Steem blockchain know has made a post that will help bring some hope to the newer Steemians as she is challenging Steemians to tell why they are still in Steem and what they have learned etc. etc. You can see her post here.
@wesphilbin (yes, the same Wes Philbin that is in every Discord server known to man and has stretched himself so thin that he has lost weight, but did grow his hair back!) has issued a challenge contest in which we are to divulge our inmost thoughts concerning the holiday season, and you can see his post here for the "rules" for the contest. I would implore all of you rule breakers to follow all of the rules and regulations pertaining to this challenging contest with real paid winners!
@liberty-minded and 
@jimramones for this awesome gif
@heyhaveyamet or 
@steemterminal