For me, this place is more than a blockchain... When I came to this network I had an idea that I can earn some money by playing Splinterlands. After that, I discovered the blogging part of this network. I wasn't a blogger type of a person but I got into it and started creating blog posts. That meant that I started to earn some HIVE tokens through content creation...
So in those moments, I was thinking about myself and how to earn money by doing this... After a while, I got aware that with an upvoting post from other people, I am actually helping them to grow! So in those moments, I understood that I'm not the only one who grows on the network, and by a gathered effort, we can grow together!
In those moments I was thinking about growing my whole network of people who are engaging with me, my friends, my followers, and so on and so on... After another time and months, years maybe, I got there that this network is not just about my friends and me... It is about other people too! Who are not my followers... With whom I don't engage at the moment but maybe I will in the future and that made me think...
Created in Canva.com
The thing with growing together with my friends and followers did work! I think that I got aware of that last year when I was pushing heavily #MyHiveGoals and my Hive Power specifically... In those days, I was doing crazy 1K power-ups on every #HivePUD during the year (btw. still doing it 😃), and I noticed that some people from my surroundings do the same! That's the power of the network, that's teamwork! Those who couldn't do 1K power-ups, they would do less, but the most important was that they wanted to grow too!
I remember very well that I have said many times that my idea is to grow together with "similar-minded people" and it is satisfying to see that happening after 3-4 years... Yes, it took some time, but the initial idea wasn't to get rich fast, but to grow slow and steady! I didn't ask for whale upvotes, or running after them, but I occasionally got some... The same goes for people in a similar position where I am...
I would say that we are in that awkward "age" when you are left to yourself... When you are young, you get discounts for bus tickets, cinema, etc... When you are old and retired, you get similar discounts and offers, but when you are in mid-age, you got nothing... lol... But, it is OK as you should (and have attributes) take care of yourself, and think about yourself and others... But, in some way, you can experience INDEPENDENCE, and in some way FREEDOM in its true meaning...
That's probably the point when I noticed that my vote is becoming relevant and my words are meaning something in others' lives... It means that I could actually influence other people in some way... Okay, I'm not that big an influencer or such... But, I can clearly say that certain people change their opinion about this blockchain just by reading my posts... Probably not just mine but others also... Lead by example... I suppose that's something that people like to see... When your words "match" your acts!
In conclusion, I don't know if this post will help you in any way, but I wanted to say that most of the people here have passed through many different phases here on HIVE... We experienced how is to be a newbie, we had that look of "getting rich by blogging" at the beginning... We experienced the desperate phase when we thought that nobody likes our posts, and that nobody cares about us... For me, I needed that one person saying "I read your post..." or "Your post helped me..." That was enough for me to push through bad times...
But in the end, we have to look at the big picture... Moving from that "individual look" at the world to building something much bigger and much more important... We got a chance to create a healthy society on the blockchain! We didn't have that chance before as all the changes were coming "from those in charge", but here, the changes are going from ourselves to the outside... I can finally understand those words by Gandhi...
If you want to change the world, start with yourself...
I hope we will not blow up this chance...
Thank you for your time,
ph
If you want to support my witness, you can do it by voting for @ph1102.ctp here https://tribaldex.com/witnesses, or just scan the QR code down below...
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