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It was the final day of the Christmas calendar my wife made for Smallsteps and we had planned a "grand finale" present (these were small gifts, including cookies), which was a small pack of Lego - the only problem was, two weeks ago her grandmother dropped by with the same pack as a surprise - which meant she has already built them. 

As normal, she was just as excited to get something and she wanted to build them straight away herself from the plans. These are really simple little pieces, but even I was pretty impressed at how fast she hammered through the plans and clicked everything into place. She has a skill that once she has done something once, it is pretty easy for her to do it again. She loves jigsaw puzzles and I have noticed her doing some pretty weird things to increase the challenge. First it was not using the image provided, then it was doing it upside down and lately, doing them back to front, so she only sees the shapes of the pieces, not the image. These are 100+ piece puzzles, so they aren't the simplest. 

Her favorite is of course the dinosaur. I thought that it would be a passing phase, but she has held onto the love of dinosaurs for over three years now, although princesses have started to creep in as well. 

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![IMG_20201224_132554.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/IQshQjzb-IMG_20201224_132554.jpg)

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![IMG_20201224_132648.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/ctbKgSzW-IMG_20201224_132648.jpg)

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Most of the preparation is done for Christmas now and all there is left to do is have a shower and wait for the parent-in-laws to arrive for the meal, which shouldn't be too far away. They probably won't be staying that long,  but I still think it is better to have them here this year, as they are having more and more health issues, including some pretty clear signs of dementia setting in. I know how fast that can have an impact on a person and a year is a long time. 

Past Covid issues, this has been a weird year overall, as I have lost my dad and my dog and have had very little contact with people who I am used to having a lot of contact with. Many of my thoughts have of course been processed on Hive and I am grateful to have a place where I feel comfortable to do so. I think that regardless of circumstances, everyone should be spending time near daily writing about their lives - even if they never put it into the public eye at all. 

There are so many pressures on our lives, as well as distractions that take away our bandwidth to think about and deal with them, that much of what influences our lives goes uninvestigated. Taking some time to keep some kind of diary of thoughts and feelings is a great way to give the space to explore and perhaps even find ways to solve some of our pressing concerns. If nothing else, it can help us accept conditions and improve our next steps into the world, whatever they may be. 

When it comes to the value of content on Hive, I see it as what has some practical usage, what makes us think about our world, experience and what helps us be a little faster or stronger in going forward into it. While there is plenty of space for entertainment, I feel that if that is all people spend their time on as a consumer, they end up limiting their potential to do other things, which impacts on important parts of their lives. 

Often, people don't see the opportunity cost on their own potential, as they can feel good in what they are doing in one moment, but in the next they realize that they don't have enough money or the job they hold doesn't bring the satisfaction they are after. We have built a world in which we can constantly avoid the negative conditions of our lives, without realizing that the way in which we are avoiding them is facilitating a further degradation. It is a vicious spiral downward for many, but they don't see the part they play in it and rather, blame all the external negative events that surround them.   

But, most people will never take the time to sort themselves out, even if it is as simple as keeping a blog of a few hundred words a day. They don't see the personal benefit in doing this unless they get rewarded with attention or money of some kind. I think we should all review what we think is valuable and what is actually valuable in our lives more often, to make sure that our behavior aligns with our values. 

Anyway, write or don't write, process your issues or find another way to avoid dealing with them. No one can force us to take responsibility for ourselves. Perhaps this is why many don't. those that do won't necessarily have a better life, but they may very well have what they consider, a quality life. Isn't this what life is about?

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]


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