Hello We Are Alive Tribe!

This is my first post using the #aliveandthriving tag, and one that I will at least try to make weekly!

This post is technically for Friday the 17th, but hopefully it will still count for the #aliveandthriving challenge!

So to start, I'd like to say that I am happy to be Alive and Thriving today!

Work has been going well recently, although our hours have started to get cut, which means my weekly pay has also suffered. I have 3 kids, and 2 of those are with my ex-wife, so child support kicks my ass on a weekly basis, right around $200 per week.

I don't have an issue paying the child support, as I feel it's my responsibility as a father to honor that "debt", but what really bothers me is that after child support, I only bring home about $300 per week, or $1200 per month give or take, which goes towards bills, food, and necessities.

This has caused me to go through a constant state of depression, leaving me feeling hopeless and worthless. But, this is a state of mind that I have been fighting to get through with everything I have.

During the height of my depression, I decided to not give in, and if financials were an issue, I needed to try something different in order to obtain financial security.

Yes, I do have my Hive account, although I've never powered down to withdraw funds from Hive. I have, however, used my Hive to purchase NFTs through Hive games like @risingstargame and @dcrops, and to purchase tokens through Hive Engine.

I have attempted and continue to attempt to save, but it always seems as soon as I get 2 steps ahead, something happens and I take 3 steps back again. The car breaks down, the oven goes out, the washing machine breaks, you name it, and I bet I've been through it within the last 5 years.

I've wanted to start investing into stocks or other crypto, but on a very limited budget, I haven't been able to work that out yet. I've attempted to start affiliate marketing, and while I've made a few sales from my efforts, it was nothing major by any means.

I'm not giving up on these options or opportunities, because I believe God opens doors and presents opportunities for a reason, and I would be a fool if I turned my back on any opportunity that presented itself.

So, about 3 weeks ago, I decided to start my journey as a content creator on YouTube, releasing videos of my recent playthroughs of a few games I've been playing the past few weeks!

As I said, I would be a fool to turn my back on any opportunity that presented itself, and when a coworker had asked me to join his discord server and follow his twitch channel, new doors began to open, and a newfound passion raged within me.

This YouTube channel has a few reasonings behind its creation, but ultimately, I hope it will help me to fight my depression in my own way, and maybe one day can lead to monetization status on YouTube.

This Channel was created to be a hub for a potential Gaming Community that my coworker and I have started to create, and will not only feature my own content, but other members of the FourTwoZero Clan/Community as well, and to hopefully grow our ranks as a whole!

I'm still in the process of making logos, creating a community description, and ultimately, providing a common space for us all to communicate and interact. So far we are a very small group of friends, but with enough passion and persistence, I believe we can accomplish our dreams, and become a successful gaming team and community!

I know that this will all come in time, but so far, things have been progressing in the most amazing ways! And my passion to be #alivenadthriving has never burned brighter!

Originally, this post was meant to be made on Saturday, and was going to be apart of the @alive.chat Friday challenge! But as Saturday came and went while my children and I got to spend the day together, I didn't get around to posting it!

I've also decided that I am done allowing my posts to rot away as drafts, never being seen by my friends and community members, so I decided now was as good a time as any to publish this post!

What did you do today challenge for Friday, 11-17-23

I got off of work on Friday at about 2:30, which I then rode my bike back to my apartment, and got ready to pick up my daughter from school! She lives with her mother and stepdad here in town, but sadly, I don't get to see my daughters as often as I'd like (sports, playing, and friends are the life of kids ya know, not hanging out with their parents!).

But, after we walked back to the apartment from school, Jaelynn and I talked about her day, and how excited she was to come over, which made me feel really good to hear despite the cloud of depression looming overhead. She's turning 10 next month, which is crazy to think about. I can't believe how fast time has gone, and how old my girls are getting!

We waited at the apartment and talked for awhile, and she even asked about my YouTube channel and if I've played any more of Kerbal Space Program recently!

Sadly, I've been too busy editing the pre-recorded episodes and recording my voiceovers after the fact on my phone, to even start playing again - but again, something for another post! We talked about that for a few minutes, and she seemed excited to watch me play, so hopefully one of these days I'll be able to teach her!

Anyways, my fiance and son came and picked us up (currently living separate from each other - another set of depression inducing obstacles in life) and we went out to eat together, just the 4 of us, and had our first family outing in quite some time! Sadly, we were one short of a true family outing, as my oldest daughter, Laila, (who just turned 13 last month) wasn't able to join us, but it was still a good family meal!

We went to a local pizza place called Monicals (actually where my fiance works, so we got a nice discount - the real reason why we went out to eat), and all sat and had a good time with each other, talking and sharing stories about our day. Jaelynn and Ty were acting like hooligans in the booth, but I can't blame them, kids will be kids!

After dinner, I had to go to the store and get a new phone charger, mostly because I needed a new sync/transfer cable to send files back and forth from my computer, since I don't have internet at my apartment, and when I do move back home, this computer has some issues, and doesn't like to run very well when it's connected to the interwebs. So I'll have to be searching for desktop replacements at some point, or try to build my own for what I want to do!

But anyways, we ended up finding a few new sets of Legos on the shelf that we spent some time looking at. I really debated whether or not I needed to buy them (the 3 sets cost me about $50-$60 USD) but I decided to say forget it, and get them anyways because I feel like I needed to lighten up a little, stop worrying so much, and place my trust and faith in God that everything would work out for the best!

Seeing the happiness on my kids faces meant more to me than the cost of the Legos, and since all my bills were paid, I decided to go ahead, and treat ourselves for once!

My son, Ty, picked out the Lego Marvel "Spider-man Vs Mysterio's Drone Attack" set which was $20 USD before tax, and contained a total of 73 pieces, including 3 Lego Mini-figures - "No Way Home Spiderman", "Mysterio", and "Nick Fury"!

While this set is for smaller children (aged 4+), it's still a little old for him (he's 3) but he absolutely loves Legos, and he plays with them constantly!

He has quite a few of these Lego Marvel sets, but still finds more and more that he wants to add to his growing collection! This is the 2nd Spiderman set he's gotten since his birthday in July, and needless to say, he is obsessed with Super Heros! :)

He mainly just takes apart the people, put them together in different ways, and make them act out "fight scenes" from his own imagination. Seeing your child grow, learn, and become their own person is truly a blessing, and one that I am extremely thankful to experience as a father ❤️

My daughter, Jaelynn, picked out the Lego Creator "Fantasy Forest Creatures" 3-in-1 set for $20 USD, which contained 175 pieces, and could build a total of 5 different creatures. It also included a little magnifying glass which actually works if you hold it at the right angle!

She had a lot of fun building these, and we were able to spend a lot of time talking about Legos, and how difficult they can be for smaller hands! This isn't really something you think about as you age and gain more experience with Legos, but it was a fun conversation to have with my almost 10 year old daughter!

Since I've been recording my gameplay footage of Kerbal Space Program and uploading it to YouTube (links at bottom of page), I decided to get this Lego Creator "Space Shuttle" 3-in-1 set for $10 USD before tax, which contained 144 pieces, and could make a space shuttle, a star wars looking fighter style ship, and an astronaut!

I wanted to go ahead and build all 3 versions, just to say I did, but I was mainly excited for the space shuttle itself, so I built that one last, so I can keep it by my computer while I play!

While yes, this set is a little young for me, I absolutely love Legos, and had a wonderful time putting this little set together, which actually took a little longer than you would think!

All in all, we had a pretty great time together building Legos and watching movies, talking and sharing our builds with each other and watching my children play together!

It is truly a blessing to be alive, and an even bigger blessing to be raising such wonderful and brilliant children!

Hive Weekly Goals Post - Monday, 11-20-23

Since I am technically posting this on Monday, I decided to go ahead and use this opportunity to plan out my week on Hive, since that is today's challenge for the #wearealive tribe!

I've been attempting to manage my time more effectively and efficiently, so I really think this is a great way to hold myself to a schedule, not to mention an entire community of people to hold me accountable! So here we go!

Since today is Monday, I wanted to post this post, and if you are reading this, then I have! So check!!

But, I don't feel like that is quite good enough to call my day quits. I do have other things I need to work on, but not nearly as important with engaging with others on this wonderful blockchain that I am proud to call home!

Also, I feel like I've been failing in the engagement portion of Hive, and been primarily focused on publishing content, but I would like to start changing that, and become a more involved member of the Blockchain!

So let's do it like this.

Monday, 11-20-23

• Curate and Engage with 5 Posts within the We Are Alive Tribe Community
• Engage with 10 Leo Threads

Tuesday, 11-21-23

• Curate and Engage with 5 Posts
• Engage with 10 Leo Threads

Wednesday, 11-22-23

• Weedcash Wednesday! Curate and Engage with 5 Posts
• Curate and Engage with 10 Leo Threads

Thursday, 11-23-23

• Curate and Engage with 5 Posts
• Curate and Engage with 10 Leo Threads
• What Are You Thankful For? (Alive Tribe)

Friday, 11-24-23

• Curate and Engage with 5 Posts
• Curate and Engage with 10 Leo Threads
• #AliveonFriday Post (Alive Tribe)

Saturday, 11-25-23

• Financial Goals (Alive Tribe/Saturday Savers Club)
• Curate and Engage with 10 Leo Threads

Sunday, 11-26-23

• YouTube Stats Blog (1 Month Update)
• Curate and Engage with 10 Leo Threads

As of now, this may be subject to change slightly with the holidays coming up this week, and I didn't get off until 5:30 PM this evening, which already set me back about an hour into my schedule!

So, after I make this post, I'll be sitting down, relaxing for a few minutes, smoke a little to get as toasted as possible, and start engaging with other users! I noticed a post by @ironshield that I would like to engage with about what it means to be "The Salt of The Earth!

I've also already replied to 3 #leo #threads I believe, so I'm getting towards my goal of 10 engagements!

I'm truly thankful for the opportunity to share this portion of my life, and I hope you all enjoyed!

Real quick I want to try something, I've heard rumor that @bradleyarrow wants to help gain exposure for new creators within the #alive tribe, and that by mentioning him in your posts, he will do just that! So here's a test to see how it goes! :)

Thanks for reading, and until next time, I hope you have a blessed and thriving week!

The Anarchist ✌🏼💚