Today is an aftermath day, which means sorting out all of the post-training details and since the end of the month, making sure all of the accounting work gets tracked. It takes some time and a lot of taking pictures of receipts so that I can get a return on things like taxis, as in the Netherlands and a few other central European countries, when they say they "take card" it doesn't mean that it is going to go through. Cash is the only way to be sure.
Certainty is something that I was discussing with my brother, 
This is a very healthy way to look at it in my opinion as it gives the potential to dictate terms with the understanding that not all terms can be dictated. This is especially relevant concerning the Economic Improvement Proposal that was implemented in the last hardfork as it changed the incentives on the platform for both directing STEEM value toward and away from content. Understanding that things have changed, is the first step in coming to terms with what is possible to control.
When it comes to quality of life, a "sense of control" is high on the list of what makes one comfortable and this can take many forms. For example, the freedom to make at least some decisions in the workplace is linked to job satisfaction and of course, economic availability provides financial stability meaning, monetary control - at least to some degree.
I believe that a lot of people struggle on Steem as they do not feel that sense of control or at least, they do not apply it to areas that they can actually control. For example, if I believe that my content is worth something and expect that it should get rewarded in some way, it is easy to feel that these factors are in my locus of control - even though they are completely reliant on other's actions. This sets me up for a conflict of understanding and especially makes my emotional reaction to something like getting downvoted very personal.
Downvotes aren't personal unless one identifies with them as such. For example if someone downvotes because they think my content is TLDR or because someone they don't like has upvoted it, that is their business, not mine. The reward is still in negotiation until the payout window closes and it is "blockchain property" prior to being allocated to a private wallet. It doesn't matter if the post has 10 cents or 100 dollars on it, it doesn't matter if whales upvoted it or a million minnows - 7 Days.
Other than what I personally do on the blockchain, I do not control anything else and even if my post might be liked by many and downvoted by a few, the end result is the same - the blockchain owns the STEEM until allocation time. Because the reward is not mine and I do not control it, I can be disconnected from the reward component and take the "don't count your chickens" approach to receiving.
People tend to get disillusioned on STEEM for many reasons, however a lot of it is because they don't get the reward that they feel they deserve. Perhaps part of the problem is that people attach what they deserve to the actions of others who have no sense of duty nor contract to provide anything at all. A reward on STEEM isn't a salary, it is STEEM from the inflation pool earmarked for payout (except for block production which is allocated immediately without exposure), but must run the 7-day gauntlet until that time. No one deserves STEEM from the reward pool.
Some people use this process to try and make themselves feel relevant or for revenge, but most will likely downvote in a way that they think benefits the platform, even if it doesn't do so at all. Whatever it is, I cannot control the actions of others, only what is performed by my hand - If people decide my post is valuable enough for them to allocate their resources toward it or away from it - that is up to them. Getting upset over a downvote is like getting upset because a drunken bum on the street doesn't like what you are wearing.
As I have said many times in the past, the hardest part of Steem isn't the complexity of technology nor the difficulty of being part of the community - it is the emotional awareness and understanding required to deal with it all. Many tend to identify themselves with the rewards they get, don't get or have removed from them without recognizing that they are not theirs to control at all, not part of their identity in the slightest. Up and Down votes all become personal, and therefore potential vectors of attack and suffering.
While the rewards are obviously an important and key component of Steem, I am hoping that one day people will disconnect their emotions away from them and instead focus on the aspects they can control - their content, their behavior and the relationships they build here, the friends they make.
Control yourself, accept that you can't control others.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
