Yes, Another Post Expressing Gratitude

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day here in the United States.

I thought about writing a post covering all the things, people and circumstances I'm grateful for, but other than giving all of that a brief nod, I'd rather concentrate on what I'm grateful for because of STEEM.

I Am Truly Grateful...

...for my wife, my children, my grandchildren, my parents, sisters, all the rest of my and my wife's extended family, friends, and all of those living or now passed on that have influenced or blessed my life somehow.

I am grateful to God.

I am grateful for gainful employment. I know I have stated that it eats up quite a bit of my time that I would otherwise use for STEEM, but if STEEM values are to be low, then reality dictates I must work for now, until something changes. I'm grateful to be learning little by little what I am to do and how to do it.

I am grateful to live in a country that is still free enough to allow me to live a good chunk of my life the way that I want to. While there's plenty to quibble about regarding what freedom truly is, I know it could be a lot worse, and I'm thankful, for at least the time being, that it has not become worse.

I am grateful for reasonably good personal health, and even though that of my wife's, my mom's, my dad's, and that of one of my sisters' isn't the greatest, they are still alive, still well enough to keep fighting the good fight, and I expect that to continue into the foreseeable future.

I'm thankful for our home, for having our sons and their families near, and for the love and support we show and share.

While life can always be better, it can almost certainly be worse. Being in the middle somewhere helps me appreciate what I do have, and motivates to do things to improve myself so I can improve my circumstances.

So Much For Briefly...

Believe me, that's brief.

On To STEEM

I've had my fair share of ups and downs on STEEM, some self-inflicted, a lot of it not, but on the whole, I'm grateful for the mentioning of it @bbrewer gave me back in July of 2016, and even more grateful that I finally took him up on it the end of December 2017.

While it was not entirely what I hoped it would be, it has provided an ongoing outlet for me in areas of creativity, opinion, spot news and other categories. Twenty-three months is the longest period of time, bar none, that I have ever been consistent in posting anywhere, which means STEEM has provided enough incentive for me to do that, despite the rollercoaster ride it has been at times.

I am grateful for all of you who have crossed my path in these nearly two years. While I appreciate most those of you who have been kind and patient, informative, generous in your rewards, etc., I can't help but be grateful for all of those who haven't been so kind, patient, generous, etc.

When I first came to STEEM, I wondered if somehow, someway, someone had finally gotten such a social experiment right—where the haves and the havenots, the God fearing and the atheist, the scientist and the skeptic, the right and the left (and however else we manage to distinguish and thus divide ourselves)—could coexist peacefully, without fear and without reprisals.

The world changing potential of STEEM hooked me deeper than the ability to create and earn something for it ever did. It is what keeps me coming back—the idea that humankind can act and transact, without third parties or governmental oversight, across borders, time and space, and do so with transparency while protecting privacy.

If I truly believe in those things, why be grateful for those who are here strictly for their own interests? For those who could potentially tear it all down with their indifference, or out and out desire to destroy?

I'd rather that these folks operate out in the open, in the light of day, than under cover of darkness. There's plenty of that, too, I suppose, but the known quantities can be easier to navigate around or deal directly with than the unknown ones. I'd rather know what people think and feel than find out later that my confidence was ill-spent.

I'm also grateful because it makes me realize that this idea of technology somehow changing the world isn't going to happen on its own. It's going to take more likeminded people, who are willing to fight for it, whatever form that takes (hopefully peaceful), to advance and push it forward.

Utopias, it seems, come a dime a dozen, and so, too, new technologies, blockchains and cryptocurrency.

That doesn't mean they can't be disruptive forces, evolutionary, or revolutionary, but code does not create morality any more than laws do. People need to be good, and want to be good, however that is defined, or even the best code or most well-intended laws will fail.

So, I'm grateful to see that in action, to have it affirmed, or reaffirmed. Because I fully intend to continue to act as I feel I should, regardless of the code.

For now, then, we forge ahead. We see what SMTs and Communities bring. We find the hook that will bring the masses (because the hook I described above is the hook most people don't know they need, not what they think they want).

Onward and upward.

_{Images source—Pixabay.}