I think the best way to deal with fitting in is to be yourself. It sounds hard, but in the end, it's much easier than pretending to be something you're not.
So... this is not a "finger-pointing" post. Think of it more as a "something to think about".
I often think about running. Might sound silly, but the last time I did run was many years before my Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis. More than just the, "You are getting older, so things won't work as they used to" mindset... I was in the U.S. Army for a few years, and for any of you that have been in the military, you know how physically demanding it is. Fast forward to now... I am lucky to be able to walk from the kitchen to the front room. I have had to find a "happy medium" in how I do things; I know I have to be careful and pay attention to "how" I am walking. I refuse to give up and let this condition change me. There are so many people that depend on me... in life, as well as here, on the blockchain. I had to come to terms with the fact that I had an incurable disease. I have a cane now... a disability placard for parking... but I will never give up and never have I pretended to be something I am not...
I was working on creating a series of posts for the Shadow Hunters Community back on our other platform... The mindset was... "Don't let your limitations make you a shadow of your former self". But due to an MS flare-up, I was never able to continue or complete this series. So I scrapped the idea and left the photos in my "Shadows" folder. This photo was previously used in a post by the way, but it's still relevant for this post; using a cane to walk to the mailbox, didn't make me something that I wasn't. Pride is something we all have... usually gets hurt way before the physical pains we have... but it lets me do things I used to. This brings me closer to the mindset of my post... What are you trying to say, Wes? Read on...
Hi, this is Ryan with Marnie, and let us tell you about our story on how Marnie helped to overcome one of the darkest times in my life. It has been hard for all of us being locked up at home for almost two years now. Life has indeed changed and during these times everyone should look after one another. Let me tell you about our tale this afternoon.
You may remember him as @watersnake101 on the blockchain... he is using his wife's account now, and the above quote, is from a recent post he shared with us. I know several people that deal with depression... some family, some friends in life, as well as here, on the blockchain. Ryan switched phones and lost access to his main account. So, he uses his wife account now, to post his positive energy and life's journeys with us. If you don't know him yet... or haven't had the pleasure of reading one of his posts. For goodness sake, please do go and give his blog page a visit. Here's the link to that recent post, by the way:
Wes... what's the point? Well... Ryan was transparent about what happened. He didn't try to take advantage of the "system" by pretending to be something he wasn't. Taking advantage of the "rewards pool" as we call it on the blockchain. But he didn't... can I get an Amen?
Out Of Focus...
I've had the opportunity to take some beautiful photographs in our front yard... The photo above was actually supposed to be a photo of the sunset. But... happy accidents, as Bob Ross used to say, it ended up being all about that tree bark. To be honest, it was a combination of improper focus, combined with a brief loss of feeling in my legs, thanks to my MS. Never did I claim to be a professional photographer! Because... that would mean I was what? Yes... pretending to be something that I wasn't! Like the title, I gave to my photo above... sometimes we can become "out of focus". Like my situation... due to my Multiple Sclerosis. But sadly, as we all know, sometimes greed and money become the "focus", which makes some lose their focus. Is that an oxymoron? No... redundancy? Nah... I'm not an English Major either... won't pretend to be that! So, as you can see... the focus of my post could be taken differently, by many different people.
We continue to have all kinds of new folks joining the blockchain, and we have had the pleasure of meeting many of them at @theterminal. As we begin to help people, we also learn a little bit about them. I can't lie... there are times when we meet people who are only after one thing... money. That's not a bad thing... we all want to be able to take care of ourselves. Provide for our families, or for those who are single, maybe buy that car you've always wanted. But it's like I have said, time and time again...
It's not the situation, it's how you handle it...
Transparency is one of the things I think sets the blockchain apart from other social media places (no need to state the names... we know them) and I don't think everyone understands this notion; every little thing you do, from posting a blog to upvoting, to... making 12 accounts and pretending to be different people (I digress)... yep, it's all there to be seen. Sure, you might get away with it for a little while. But why would you even do that, to begin with? This brings one more thing to mind... stay with me here, my friends...
A Balance of Privacy and Transparency
There are always exceptions... I understand about being private. Even my account name is a pseudonym, though Wes is my real first name. So you might be thinking; if you aren't giving your real information, that is pretending to be something your not... right? I don't think so; this would probably be the part where everyone would just have to agree to disagree. I am not one to start, nor do I care for... confrontations. It would serve no purpose for me to call out specific accounts that I know are pretending to be something they aren't... That's why we have HiveWatchers... Sure, this post could be specifically about people taking advantage of the blockchain... which many are. But I tried to present it in a different light. But back to the above image... CamLara.
I shared the awesomesauce of @watersnake101or @mhel with you above. But as I was working on this post, I learned of the situation with a dear friend of theirs... @camlara. I am going to share the story with you but would encourage you to read the following post, to see just exactly what I am talking about.
https://peakd.com/hive-109288/@camlara/camlara--reaching-out-to-a-friend-in-need
Here is an excerpt from that post:
"Hi, this is @mhel and also formerly known as watersnake101. But today this is not about but about a friend. I figured that this is the best way to introduce someone to the community and share his story.
Last Wednesday while I was working from home, a friend and colleague from work sent me a message. He told me that they were doing a medical fundraiser to help out our common friend named Cam. It has been a while since I last spoke with Cam. FB is one way to see how your friends are doing but I stopped using FB for quite some time now except if I am looking for an item or sharing our YT channel. In short, I had no idea what was going on in people's lives. Not that I don't want to know how my friends are doing but FB has been stressful for me and has been a trigger to my anxiety."
I can completely understand someone not wanting to share their face let alone the situation they are going through. But in this situation, they sure weren't pretending to be something they weren't. If you feel compelled to help out here, I know it would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure a positive comment on the post would mean the world to them...
I am going to be setting @camlara's account as 50% Beneficiary on this post. Hope you can understand the meaning behind this post... with everyone in the world trying to find out what they are going to do... What's going to happen next... What to name the next variant... I digress. Hope you are all still hanging in there? Anything new that you've heard about? If you are still reading at this point, I thank you for your time! I see all those wonderful Thoughtful Daily Posts being shared... and I am not ignoring you! My Multiple Sclerosis is still trying to be in charge, but I appreciate everyone's continued interaction with my community and TAG! So... better get this published... And of course...
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