Steem's official "Bridge Builder" @wesphilbin (yes, the same Wes Philbin that is in every Discord server known to man and has stretched himself so thin that he has lost weight, but did grow his hair back!) has issued a challenge contest in which we are to divulge our inmost thoughts concerning the holiday season, and you can see his post here for the "rules" for the contest. I would implore all of you rule breakers to follow all of the rules and regulations pertaining to this challenging contest with real paid winners!
So after giving it some really deep thought I sort of arrived at the conclusion that the holiday season just doesn't have the same meaning anymore; I mean the season is for a reason, but with the family it is way different.
When my daughter and her family lived 500 feet from us, we would go over there or they would come over to our house, dinner, presents, and then breakfast and presents in the morning. But along with that came all the interacting, and it was very enjoyable to have all the children around at the time. Christmas was very special with the children around.
But now that they left the state with a vow never to step foot back in this state again, we rarely see them, and my son and his family live over a hill from us, and they rarely come over either, as they have their lives and won't leave the area where they're at, so that leaves us to just take on the holiday season by ourselves.
I have my family online, and they keep me busy so it's sort of like having family, but I am reminded of the old saying that you can be in a room full of people and still be lonely. The good thing is I know of a few that are absolute gold and I wouldn't trade them for anything in this world.
So this is how I feel, whether it is right or wrong, there is a lot going on in this world, with so much division, and it is so difficult to grab onto and understand it all. I have listened to "experts" (in their own opinions) tell this guy he is wrong because he believes this or that, but it serves no purpose to cut someone down for how he feels or what he believes, because the "expert" has not worn that person's shoes, so how does he know what is right or wrong for that person?
The important part is the love that binds all of us together, and there is an age-old timeless word that says that "any house divided against itself cannot stand," but if it is built on love, you know that house is going to stand.
So these are the thoughts that are going through my mind as I write this up, and I could go on and on as it's an endless battle, a bottomless pit. I would hope that everyone takes the time to stop and "smell the roses" and look around themselves at all the life going on, and reflect on their own particular situation.
Which brings us to the end of this post, and I would like to add that there is another post going around in which @Snook, whom many on this Steem blockchain know has made a post that will help bring some hope to the newer Steemians as she is challenging Steemians to tell why they are still in Steem and what they have learned etc. etc. You can see her post here.
Beautiful brother...
Thank you for your reply and submission...
@alliedforces curate2
@tipu curate
!giphy family
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
giphy is supported by witness untersatz!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 0/3 - need recharge?)
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Keep up the great work and join us in The Castle sometime!
The #spreadlovenotwar curation campaign is under the guidance of witnesses @enginewitty and @untersatz.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Absolutely my pleasure @wesphilbin, just sayin' it like it is, we know this one!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Wonderful piece of writing! And I am very happy to be a part of your "adopted" online family! 😊
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Coming from you basically as a professional @thekittygirl I take that as an extreme compliment, and as far as being a part of our "adopted family" we just are: it is an absolute fact! Love you all! ={) }}}}}}}
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
What a fantastic contribution to the #bestseasonalthoughts initiative!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Coming from a woman with a huge boot (hahaha, your reputation precedes you) I will take that as a very powerful compliment @jaynie! Thank you!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
You should never listen to rumours :P ;)
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
You have my vote and my admiration. Although in my family some of the grandchildren don't take care of my grandparents, my sister, my mother and I do it without asking anything in return and we are happy with that. A family that is not together or amalgamated may have a lot of problems. I hope they can meet soon and be well again. I have been greeted wonderfully at Steem Terminal. And for that and other things I wish you all the best.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
That is extremely cool @healthrecipes, and that is just the nature of young folk doing their thing!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
So many truth in this wonderful blog, and I love that you wrote it. It’s true that a new extended family is Sometimes worth more than real time family, but things can always change we can’t see what the future brings and that’s good, I love the fact we do not know what’s around the corner. I hope you count me in when you talk about online family cause you are the man I talk to before I say goodnight and the second or fourth when I wake up hahahahah and I am glad that I can say that online friendships exist ! Keep an eye on your mailbox dear friend and blog to you later
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
You are absolutely a part of this family, and don't ever think otherwise! I have been watching it, but my dad (who is 91 and lives in the middle of the desert in a house trailer) sent an extremely important letter (some form of a court paper) and that was about 3 weeks ago, still don't have it.
Yes, see you soon!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I can relate to what you wrote so very much!!
hugs
@alliedforces curate
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I know you do @snook, and we're still here!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
This post was curated by @theluvbug
and has received an upvote and a resteem to hopefully generate some ❤ extra love ❤ for your post!
JOIN ME ON TWITTER
In Proud Collaboration with The Power House Creatives
and their founder @jaynie
JOIN US HERE
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
!SHADE 5 !DERANGED
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
@jamerussell you have received
5 SHADE
from sgt-dan!View and trade the tokens on Steem Engine.
This tip bot is powered by witness untersatz!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
You just received DERANGED @jamerussell Keep up the great work, view all your tokens at steem-engine.com
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
!giphy family love
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
giphy is supported by witness untersatz!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
@untersatz curate2
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
The @untersatz witness and manual curation is under the guidance of @contrabourdon and @organduo.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Hello!
This post has been manually curated, resteemed
and gifted with some virtually delicious cake
from the @helpiecake curation team!
Much love to you from all of us at @helpie!
Keep up the great work!
Manually curated by @wesphilbin.
@helpie is a Community Witness.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account.
If you are a community leader and/or contest organizer, please join the Discord and let us know you if you would like to promote the posting of your community or contest.
@c-squared runs a community witness. Please consider using one of your witness votes on us here
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Another part of your online family here! It's always great to see one of your "real" images as well.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I know silver and gold ones Bwahahahahaaa!
@alliedforces curate 2
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Keep up the great work and join us in The Castle sometime!
The #spreadlovenotwar curation campaign is under the guidance of witnesses @enginewitty and @untersatz.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Fantastic work.
I really enjoyed reading your #bestseasonalthoughts post. A bit of it I can empathize with. I will probably be alone this holiday season, but not really. I do have my dear friends on STEEM.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
A free manual !trendovoter gift from MAPR for your participation in PYPT.
Enjoy!
Thanks for the article.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Congratulations @accelerator, 27.04% upvote has been shared with your successful call on the post that shared by @jamerussell!
Support @trendotoken projects by delegating : 100SP , 200SP , 500SP , 1000SP , 2000SP
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
You have been curated by @wesphilbin on behalf of Inner Blocks: a community encouraging first hand content, with each individual living their best life, and being responsible for their own well being. #innerblocks Check it out at @innerblocks for the latest information and community updates, or to show your support via delegation.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit