Starting over
In the Fall of 2017, I was awarded a scholarship to spend six months in Germany as an exchange student. In January, 2018, I returned and found out that addicts had gotten into my place and everything I owned had been sold to pay for drugs. They actually set up tables in front of the building, told the neighbors that I had died and sold anything of value. Everything else was tossed into the trash including invaluable family memories such as the only video of my beloved late Grandmother, which I hadn't got around to digitizing. Childhood memories, one of a kind photos, all gone.
So I had to start over.
Before you start feeling too bad for me, I've learned in life that sometimes bad things happen that prevent even worse things from occurring and that's what happened here. The robbery was one of the only things that could have gotten me to leave and since then, the building has been devastated by COVID-19. So in a way, the theft very well may have saved my life. It also caused me to want to decentralize my life, which led me deeper into the world of crypto.
As part of our journey in spreading awareness about crypto in general and LeoFinance and Hive in particular, I was talking with some friends about it. Since everyone was stuck at home due to lockdowns, This was a great opportunity to share since many people are facing unemployment and restrictions in their daily lives.
You know him, there's always that one naysayer where no matter what you're talking about, he has a negative mindset about everything. So as I'm explaining how crypto has opened up new possibilities for me he drops his bombshell: "What use is crypto? It's not like you can live off of it or anything!" Challenge accepted. I announced that throughout the month of August, I would survive only on the cryptocurrency generated through my accounts online, and would prove that even in dire straits, man can live on crypto alone.
And then I got to work.
Living the crypto life
They were particularly interested in how crypto could be translated into spending with a debit or credit card. I could have ordered one of the several cards offered in our industry, but decided to confine it to using my banks card. The one where they know nothing about crypto... I began by increasing my output in blogging and engaging with the community. I didn't have to worry about my living accommodations too much, as that was mostly taken care of, although I did use some tokens to supplement that. But food and everything else, could that be taken care of as well? As a famous politician once said: "Yes We Can!"
I had purchased some miners for a number of different tokens early on. I knew that some of the best returns occurred at the beginning, before the market was saturated and had jumped right in. The tokens could be staked to increase curation rewards, or sold to invest in even more promising areas with a better return. So with the miners chugging away and my posts adding to the pile like a small crypto snowball rolling downhill.
Since my account was linked to my bankcard, I showed the group how crypto could be transferred and loaded onto my card, and used normally. From blog/Dapp to exchange, to bank and back. Extra outside earnings could be invested in games like dDITY, which with the right cards can generate SIM, HIVE and other tokens that can be stacked or powered up to boost curation. They were amazed at how the interactions onscreen could morph into something tangible that they could actually understand. The point was that, aside from verifying two small deposits, I never needed to contact the bank again. I didn't need a special crypto-card, it just worked.
Once the experiment ended, it was clear nothing would ever be the same again. What began as an attempt to break down an arcane new concept, ended up impressing people and opening up new possibilities for all involved. I can actually see the rise of decentralized, self-sustaining communities structured around a common casting off the financial shackles that bind us. It also reawakened the love of blogging and ignited the joy of creating content which in turn, generates even more tokens.
It made me realize, that if I lost everything, I could still survive.
Helping hands
now, it's not just my personal finances that are being positively impacted, it's what I see happening in developing countries like Venezuela and Nigeria. Crypto are allowing for a brighter future in areas where sanctions, corruption and mismanagement have devastated the economy. No longer able to rely on the promises of the political class, people are taking the initiative of letting "their fingers do the walking" and providing an income for themselves through blogging.
The empowerment this brings warms your heart and shows the power we all have to help and support each other through our upvotes. One click can help pay for the cost of drugs for a sick person. It can put food on a barren table and allow children to go to school. The power of crypto is in our hands, let's use it for good.
Thank You So Much!
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Please check out my recent posts:
dCITY is More Than Just a Game - It's a Dividend-Paying Powerhouse!
CANCEL IT ALL! - Setting the Captives Free from the Shackles of Student Loan Debt
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Wow! What an impressive story. Really the best thing is always to accept what happens, but not to sit idly by, but to make more wise decisions. I congratulate you! You took the right path, and now you are an example that we have in our hands the change we want in our lives.
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It interesting how things work out in the end. And look at where we are today, full members of the Leo tribe! Can't get any better than that! :)
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Wow, that is a really inspirational story! I am glad that you were able to find some kind of silver lining from that bad experience of losing all of your stuff. That is pretty awesome that you have been able to make a living off of what you are doing. I dream of doing that someday, but being in the states it takes a much larger return to get that done. Best of luck moving forward!
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Yes, now mind you, that was only an experiment during the month of August to see if it was even possible. I don't know if I would have the resources to sustain it for much longer than that, which is why I keep stacking! :)
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Sorry to hear about your robbery. That sucks.I too always feel like things happen for a reason, sometimes we don't realize it at the time though.
WTG showing your friends how to live off crypto. Crypto has gotten me out of many a bind also!
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If it hadn't happened, I never would have left and might be among the unfortunate who met their demise as there was nothing else that would have gotten me out of there. When it happened, a strange calm came over me and a feeling of "Relax. I know it looks bad now, but this will turn out for the good later." Thankfully, it turned out to be true.
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great post but i can't help it to comment on this
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK? in which country does this happen? and wtf couldn't police or anyone do something?
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There were gangs involved who had killed people. The management was scared to death and the feds had to actually storm one of the other buildings where there was human smuggling going on, even the Police wouldn't go in there without half a dozen officers as backup.
Every pathway to get justice for me, would have put innocent people at risk. I was there when the gangs were going door to door demanding protection money, so I knew. The residents begged me not to call the police. Like many cities in eastern Pennsylvania, our once quiet and peaceful town has been flooded with people from elsewhere, from some of the most violent and poverty-stricken countries in the world.
The "migrant caravans" you see on the news where they always interview some poor mother and her baby in order to generate public sympathy, but you never see the gangmember boyfriend. But we do here. It's sad, because there are good and bad in every group. But that kind of violence was unknown here and the peaceful city is no more.
We have one of those national immigrant processing centers nearby and so gangmembers send their wives and kids ahead to request asylum, then they follow and put down roots in our community. The good people are fleeing in droves...
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I think i got an idea! When you said migrats i instantly got it! I am from Greece and in Greece as you many have heard we take all the immigrants for basically all the Europe. It's either us or Italy their options to get in Europe and we are closer to Turkey that most of them coming from.... so i know...
To add to that i live in The west side! and the west side is very similar to your west side ;)
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Well it's good you can see the positive side of the robbery, that's an important skill in itself, seeing the positive in everything and making it work for you.
Have you managed to convince many people to try out Hive for themselves?
I agree that this blockchain especially has enormous capacity to help others!
Nice write up!
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This kinda reminded me of Guglielmo Marconi, the guy who developed the radio transmitter. He turned down a free ticket on the maiden voyage of the Titanic and took the Lusitania instead, which ended up saving his life. He was on the Lusitania when it too sank, but he survived. So when COVID stalked that building and took people with it, I was glad I wasn't there.
The people I tried to bring in were scared away by the downvoting gang earlier this year. However, blockchain progress will proceed.
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Your post is the first I have read in response to @theycallmedan's most recent challenge and, I must say, will set the bar high as I continue to read other responses.
Looking at difficulties as opportunities is something I am still working on! Thank you for sharing how you made lemonade after Providence gave you a lemon.
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Thanks for your compliment, it really means a lot. As long as I can remember, every once in awhile I get this inner feeling that has saved me from even worse events time and time again. You can only recoginze these by looking back and seeing the connections afterwards.
I'd been flying for two days from Germany to the US via England and all I wanted was to climb into bed. On the flight over I knew something was amiss, but didn't know what.
When none of my keys worked, I took a deep breath and thought "Is this another one of those things again?"
and that's when the inner calm descended and caused me to know that as bad as things looked right now, it would turn out for the good, all I had to do was wait. It did.
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As my sister (@mamma-dukes) is very fond of saying when life becomes a challenge...
She gave me that plaque with these calming words to help me be less pessimistic. Although the second youngest of we five siblings, she often acts as the matriarch of the family, encouraging us all!
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And look at it, sitting right there where the knowledge is. God love her, people like that are pure gold!
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I know G-D loves her as she is a very godly woman, more godly then me. That is for sure!😉
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