Wow, this community is amazing, in so many ways. It's been a week and I'm sitting down for the first time to assess where I am, what resources I have (left) and where to go from here.
Recap of what happened
I should recap quickly for anyone who is unaware: my @ironshield and my wife's @lturner accounts were compromised and the user changed the keys, locking me out of both accounts. My recovery for @ironshield was @lturner and vice-versa creating a catch-22 that prevented me from recovery either account.
I'm not going to preach on "good practices" concerning keys, there are many posts on this subject. Of course, I advise anyone to use caution with your master key. I still don't know for certain how this happened (I wish I did), but I believe it may have to do with to very serious errors:
- I likely entered my master key in a website back in the steemit days
- I never changed my key on HIVE, but kept the old mpass.
I'm also not going to discuss or consider the financial loss or what I once had. It's gone and that's that. I'm far beyond feeling sorry for myself, regretting, bla bla. It happened and it cannot unhappen.
Instead, I am grateful for so much, because there is so much to be grateful for.
The HIVE Community is So Great
I was floored by the generosity that I have received from fellow Hivians: I want to shout out:
@valued-customer
@bitcoinman
@thebighigg
@bulliontools
@benthomaswwd
@heartbeatonhive
@lasseehlers
@achim03
@fjworld
@cardboard (for helping with reward.app)
@cryptocompany
@powerpaul
@rainbowdash4l
@kenny-crane
Also those who communicated with me on discord, offering condolences and looking for a way to get back the locked accounts. @alohaed @apanamamama @hunter @summertooth @zaxan @captaincryptic @trumpman @stickupboys @buggedout @hafiz34 @cardboard @sircork @bitcoinman @theguruasia @nastyforce @ecoinstant @satoshi @bala and @neoxian (Mr. Dragon) and @silversaver888
I hope I didn't miss anyone! Also thank you for all the generous upvotes to my post from 8 days ago: I haven't made a post that well supported since my STEEMIT days! Thank you whales / orcas / dolphins / minnows who supported that post. Wow!
I want to especially call out @canadian-coconut and @familyprotection who have been supporting my blog for a long time. Thank you so much, it really means a lot to me.
One of the Biggest Surprises!
The most shocking thing of all, after assessing my account today, is that even my thief showed me some mercy and returned a few of my 2nd layer assets:
I don't know what motivated the return of these specific tokens, but they are valued and appreciated. I was especially relieved to see LHP returned, which gives me a HP delegation to help build things back. And my ALIVE/ALIVEM tokens (!!!) which I am very grateful to have back again!
I'm grateful that even the thief showed some mercy to me, by returning some of my hard-earned assets.
So... thank you too.
Do You Forgive Him?
My daughter asked me something interesting soon after the incident, during diner conversations as I was recounting (not complaining) how God had allowed my crypto to be stolen...
(btw, quick side-note, for the record, I'm not absolving myself of responsibility for this loss, as I must have not been diligent in protecting my keys. In the natural, I am fully responsible for my own keys. Like when a house burns down because you left the iron on, or car was stolen because it was left unlocked, the owner must take responsibility. In the super-natural however, I see numerous indications that this was divinely sanctioned. Bless the Most High!)
...my oldest daughter looked at me straight into my eyes and asked me "dad, do you forgive him?" I paused for a moment and asked myself that question. I can't just say "Sure, daughter, of course". I had to honestly answer that question for myself first and then speak truthfully to my daughter.
Do I forgive whoever it is who took almost 8 years of careful investing / blogging / curating / game playing? Am I bitter? Do I desire retribution? Of course I desire justice, but do I hate this person? Do I curse this person? Do I desire harm to this person? No. So I answered my daughter truthfully:
"Yes, I forgive him." She said "good".
After I answered, was reminded of the verse:
"But if you do not forgive others their sins, neither will your Father forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:15)
And the verse:
"If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." (John 20:23)
God does not desire any to perish and neither do I. I have been forgiven many sins, the least that I can do is forgive the sins of others. So I answered my daughter honestly.
Yes, I forgive him.
Another Fingerprint
Looking at the time-stamp of when (some of) the assets were returned, it was about the same time that my daughter asked me that question and I gave my answer. I believe this is yet another fingerprint of the divine, bless His Holy Name.
It is very comforting to me, that everything that happens (both good and bad) enhances my relationship with the Creator and His Son and will be a genuine positive learning experience for my family.
If my daughter learns to forgive without reservation, then she would have an example to imitate when she is an adult. Forgive.
Still Grateful Everyday!
Even though I haven't been posting the past week, I have been grateful each one of those days and I look forward to recounting those blessings and expressing that gratefulness.
But first priority is to express gratefulness for everyone who has been helping me get back on my feet again, motivate me to continue investing / blogging / curating / game playing.
I probably will not have the same time allocated as I used to, because IRL job and family life will demand 99% of my attention - but this is an opportunity for me to streamline, optimize and simplify my HIVE investments and optimize my time.
And because the community has contributed so much, I am able to establish myself again and rebuild - not what I had before, but something even BETTER! Checklist:
- New Footer
- New sponsors
- Better engagement
- Better time-allocation
- More generous rewards to the community!
It'll take some time to make this a reality, for a while my posts may be a little basic. I hope you will bear with me.
THANK YOU!!!
All of these many words to say: Thank you Hive community. You're amazing! See you on my next post.
Bless the Most High!
