Online Story #1

Finding happiness in these unprecedented times

It’s difficult, all of this, we’re all going through our own tribulations. It’s important for us to find meaning in our day to day lives, it’s essential to find hope within these dark times. Many people are experiencing decreased motivation, uneasiness, anxiety and sadness within these times.

The pandemic has taken us out of the realm of what we used to consider normal. It’s easy to feel down and distant. Especially when we’re not certain of what’s to come. We’ve witnessed countless deaths as a society, individuals who lost their lives to Covid. It’s a battle everyday, trying to understand why it’s all happening and why we are losing so many lives to this virus.

But, we as individuals have a choice, we make choices every single day. In our everyday lives, we have the ability to change our moods through our thoughts. It’s better said than done. But it’s true. Maybe not in the beginning, but at a certain point, certain thoughts will either be for our overall benefit or our downfall.

The question is, how can we start to feel hope when all we feel is fear? Baby steps. It’s all about the minor steps we take to finally get closer to our mission or goal.

How do we take baby steps?

  • Start small, find the simple reasons to be grateful, like that first sip of warming tea in the morning
  • Make a list of all the things you’re grateful of
  • Talk to someone about how you feel, sometimes letting those feelings out can help us get one step closer to feeling better!
  • Have a healthy meal filled with antioxidants and nutrients, did you know that some fruit can help release happy chemicals? Make a search of all the fruits that can help elevate your mood
  • Watch a funny video
  • Watch a video with animals
  • Take long inhales and exhale slowly
  • Go outside and take a walk, just do it, it will help, I promise!
  • Take up a new hobby like painting, boxing or dancing
  • Talk to your loved ones, if they’re not around, give them a phone call or video call
  • Meditate, you can even start with 1 minute and build it up

That’s a list among many other countless ways to take essential steps in allowing hope to conquer fear. We must take significant measures in heightening our spirits ourselves. It doesn’t have to necessarily be a demanding process, it can be enjoyable.

Perception is a highly prominent factor. The way we perceive situations will be a key factor in overcoming fear and finding happiness in these difficult times. Two people can be both going through the same situation, but they can experience different perceptions of their reality.

For example, two people can be laid off due to Covid. The first person can be filled with anger and spite, while the second person can be grateful for the experience they had in that organization or company and motivated to find another position. Even so, it’s not to say the second person didn’t go through anxiety, grief, and anger to some certain degree. They probably did, they’re human nonetheless. But it’s important to understand that the difference between both these individuals is how they decided to change their perception regarding the job loss, how each of them went through different cognitive operations in order to find hope again.

It’s fascinating to comprehend that both individuals can go through the same experience, yet have such different outcomes. The second person that lost their job due to Covid tried to quickly change their perception, they literally forced their brain to see things in a different light, because they didn’t just find hope, they made it.

As the saying goes, “fake it until you make it”. Hope and happiness don’t randomly fall from the heavens, it’s a process just like everything else in life. Once you train your brain to view things in a positive perception, there is no going back. Our minds are machines that we can train, we are blessed with that capability.

The pandemic has taken its toll on all of us. It’s been a burdensome experience. It’s not easy to find hope or happiness, and no one is lucky enough to have joy fall from the sky into their spirits, but it’s like a skill, the more you practice the more it sticks! Cheers to the simple pleasures of life, and may we get through this storm and find the new dawn of light.

 

 

 

 

Online Story #2

How to make a warm gnocchi dish

 “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” (Tolkien).

Food is important, there’s no doubt about that. With this pandemic, it’s essential to eat well, eating well can involve allowing the most delicious food to touch our taste buds! We need to keep ourselves healthy during this pandemic.

It’s easy to opt for unhealthy habits considering the state of the world. But it’s all about perception. We can dedicate this time to be for our greatest good! Learning foods from different cultures can be a fantastic tool in understanding how to put flavors together, by time, you can even create fusion dishes that taste amazing and will leave you feeling energized and satisfied.

Today, I will demonstrate how to make a simple gnocchi dish.

Note: Feel free to substitute the ingredients. If you want to change the type of cooking oil, protein, or vegetables that’s totally up to you! This method is the one that works for me, but the pleasant thing about this dish is it’s quite versatile about the ingredients.

ingredients:

  • Garlic
  • Onions
  • Green chili
  • Tomatoes
  • Olive oil
  • Bay leaves
  • Minced meat
  • Kosher salt
  • Broccoli
  • Spinach
  • Black pepper
  • Cumin
  • Coriander
  • Red chili powder
  • Garlic powder
  • Onion powder
  • Gnocchi pasta
  • Parmesan (optional)

Note: Feeds 2-3

Step 1: Chop garlic, onions, and green chili finely. Peel the skin of a tomato and chop finally too. You can use any oil that you prefer, olive oil will be used in this recipe. Fry all the ingredients on medium heat until golden brown (don’t fry them for too long).

Step 2: Now add one bay leaf and the minced meat and keep frying everything on high heat until meat is cooked. Add kosher salt. Stir occasionally.

Step 3: Here is the versatile step, you can choose what types of vegetables you want to utilize!  You can change it up depending on what you want. in this specific recipe, broccoli and spinach will be used. however, feel free to use the types of vegetables you love! Cut the broccoli to your desired size and place it inside of the pan, then add the spinach, stirring occasionally on medium heat.

Step 4: Now it’s time for the spices. And black pepper, cumin, coriander, red chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder. This step is flexible too.

Step 5: Stir everything and allow it to simmer down on low heat. place the lid on top.

Step 6: In a different pot, place the gnocchi, then boil water, and add a small amount of olive oil and kosher salt. Let’s cook on low heat, place the lid on top. Stir occasionally.

Step 7: Close the heat for the gnocchi after 3-5 minutes, or when the gnocchi has risen to the top. then strain the gnocchi.

Step 8: After straining the gnocchi, add it to the meat and broccoli. Stir everything.

Step 9: Drizzle a little bit of olive oil (optional) and close the heat.

Step 10: Congratulations! You did it! The dish is now ready to be served. After placing the warm gnocchi dish on the plates, sprinkle fresh parmesan on top.

 

 

 

Online Story #3 

Will cryptocurrency be part of the mainstream financial system?

We live in a day and age where things are unpredictable. Banks were first created to help people, people had money and they didn’t know where to store it, humanity came together to come up with a solution. Banks were the answer to storing capital. It went from barter to cash. By the 21st-century, society started to adapt to a more electronic form of storing capital. People started to use credit cards, debit cards, and prepaid cards. Now that has become considered the norm in relation to daily transactions. Now, it’s unusual for individuals to use cash in first world countries, but it’s still acceptable.

These are definitely unexpected times. It’s difficult to guarantee how the future will look like. A cryptocurrency is essentially a digital currency and it’s created through advanced encryption strategies, otherwise known as cryptography.

In the beginning, cryptocurrency was just a concept, it was a notion that certain people would discuss. It transitioned from becoming an academic idea to virtual reality. Bitcoin Was introduced in 2009. That was the start of the cryptocurrency reality. Bitcoin started to have a large following that was consistently increasing. Investors were attracted to bitcoin, and cryptocurrency attracted a large volume of media attention.

The question is, will these alternative currencies one day become equal with conventional currencies such as dollars or euros? Or will cryptocurrency and bitcoin be only a phase in society, and will it become just a notion from the past? It all depends, on various factors, and it also depends on how popular and accepted we make it become as a society.

The future of cryptocurrency isn’t necessarily clear. Economic analysts have predicted a prominent alteration in crypto will be approaching in the near future. There is a chance for crypto to drift on the Nasdaq, this will result in increased credibility to Blockchain, because of the alternative technical blueprint, blockchain allows for increased security. Some individuals have argued that all bitcoin needs is an ETF, which is a verified exchange-traded fund. This would significantly assist the process of investing in bitcoin, however, the demand for bitcoin would need to increase.

Bitcoin is recognized as a ‘decentralized currency’, it uses ‘peer-to-peer technology’, this allows all operations in relation to ‘currency issuance, transaction processing, and verification’ to be activated and successfully implemented by the network. The benefit of this form of decentralization is that it frees bitcoin from governmental control or intervention. But there is also a negative side to this, because of the decentralization there is no central jurisdiction to guarantee that matters will operate in an efficient manner or even to secure the value of bitcoin. The coins are generated through a digital process otherwise known as “mining”. This digital procedure involves powerful computers to resolve complex algorithms. Currently, 25 bitcoins are created every 10 minutes.

Bitcoin differs from fiat currency because fiat currency is backed by the government. Fiat currency is supervised by the country’s central bank and the activity is very centralized.

There are currently limitations that are a weakness for cryptocurrency. Some of these weaknesses include the fact that a person’s digital value can be deleted by a technical issue, or having a hacker intrude the virtual vault and have access to it, but these weaknesses can be overcome in time with technological progression.

It should be understood that the more popular cryptocurrencies will become, the more likely they will attract governmental auditing, this will contradict it and everything it stands for.

The number of people who have accepted cryptocurrencies has consistently increased, but those people are still the minority. Furthermore, it’s going to take a lot of work for cryptocurrencies to become more commonly used in society. The first step is for cryptocurrencies to have supporters globally. Consequently, the average person would not entertain the idea of cryptocurrency because of the complexity involved. It’s reasonable to say that only the technologically advanced would accept and understand cryptocurrency.

For cryptocurrency to be a part of the mainstream financial system, there would be many aspects that need to change. Cryptocurrency would have to be both mathematically complex in order to avoid fraud and hackers, but also simple for the everyday consumer to understand. It would have to be decentralized but have efficient protection. Moreover, the cryptocurrency must conserve the anonymity of users without risking the possibility of tax evasion and money laundering.

Perhaps in the future, the most popular cryptocurrency could have functions that lie between regulated fiat money and today’s cryptocurrencies. But this reality doesn’t exist yet. Even so, there is no doubt that the cryptocurrency leading the market in the present day is bitcoin, its strength and the way it deals with challenges will decide its success in the future, and the success of alternative cryptocurrencies.

The arrival of Bitcoin has initiated a discussion about its future and about other cryptocurrencies. Even with Bitcoin’s current difficulties, its success since its launch has influenced the birth of alternative cryptocurrencies like Litecoin, Ripple, and Etherium. A cryptocurrency can theoretically become part of the modern financial system but it would have to meet varying standards.

“Given that bitcoin has been moving up or down 2.4% a day on average during the last two months, breaching $20,000 by Christmas is reasonable,” cryptocurrency trader and economist Alex Krüger said via Telegram, adding he “favors upwards continuation” despite recent “regulatory concerns” in the U.S. encouraging sellers and “a notable increase in selling pressure from [bitcoin] miners [who are rewarded with bitcoin for maintaining and securing the network].”

“2020 is the year bitcoin went mainstream, and 2021 is the year everyone realizes that fact and plays catch-up,” Klippsten says.

“Bitcoin has proven to be very resilient. It is still up 33% from a year ago. Why? It continues to gain favor as a store of value that will not be diluted. A dollar in 1970 is worth $0.15 today due to inflation. 50 years from now, we will not see the same rate of inflation on bitcoin,” states Schatt.

Bitcoin has made a strategic decision when it decided to remain quiet about its internal operations. Bitcoin continues to work quietly. that allows for trials to be experimented with and evolved. The quiet strategy is exactly what society needs in current times since the world is overfilled with confusion and noise.

Investment and progression in discrete progress help build the foundation of productivity and strength and when the ease comes after the tribulation, society will comprehend what it wants for the future. These days, tuning in to the outcome of cryptocurrency, cryptography, and blockchain is an exciting privilege to see.

Iran was one of the very first countries to recognize cryptocurrency mining as an authorized production in 2019. The Iranian government currently issued the mining licenses which fundamentally gives companies the permission to mine and sell any digital valuable goods made. Also, Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president has requested the government to initiate a new national outlook and approach to the evolving crypto mining industry. Iran holds 4% of bitcoin’s hash rate, which is more than double what it was less than a year ago. It is roughly almost four times more than the UK and more than 50% of the US share. This is important information because it matters in relation to the future of cryptocurrency, it disclosed how elaborate Bitcoin’s usage will be, and how significant it is to stay updated with politics and global economics.

It’s reasonable to say that investors aren’t the only ones that are anticipating and hoping the value of Bitcoin currency goes up. Bitcoin news is present and the journey has just begun. The notion of Bitcoin has been revolutionary for investors and financial markets. Bitcoin is increasingly becoming more mainstream. Bitcoin, like alternative cryptocurrencies, can be used to buy products/services and also be exchanged.

The symbol (BTC) is found all around, in global news. Alternatively, there is a dark side to Bitcoin and that’s the fraud and the losses that occur due to the process of cryptocurrency. These losses can be highly expensive. A man lost 46,000,000 pounds recently, the Irish man wanted to conceal the codes of his Bitcoin virtual capital. Sadly, he failed to use a hardware wallet.

He, unfortunately, doesn’t make the wisest of decisions about storing cryptocurrency. He decided to print the codes on a piece of paper. He then lost that paper and his codes are missing and the Bitcoin records can’t be retrieved.

Lastly, cryptocurrencies bring forth a fascinating new world of opportunities and possibilities! There are drawbacks to cryptocurrency, these weaknesses include fraud, lack of regulation, technical complexity, unpredictability, and loss of virtual currency due to technical difficulties. But there are also advantages to it, like user anonymity, lower transaction payments, bank charge elimination, and removal of heavy governmental regulations.

It’s a privilege to see the fate of cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin because it was the first to try to normalize the industry, it’s putting the most efforts into future success, also it has created a path for various alternative cryptocurrencies.

The future of cryptocurrency is unknown, some people encourage this industry, and there are people who are skeptical, both sides have rational and reasonable points. Investors are hoping for the best and skeptics are waiting for the day it crashes as a virtual reality. If cryptocurrency can find a balance and avoid tax evasion, money laundering, and other unfortunate activities, it can get a step closer to future success.

Cryptocurrency must also win the acceptance of the general public, and it must give them a reasonable reason to transition from federal currency to cryptocurrency. If the complexity is balanced with simplicity, cryptocurrency may just have a bright future.

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References:

Barone, A. (2019). “The Future of Cryptocurrency in 2019 and Beyond”. Investopedia. Retrieved from:

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/091013/future-cryptocurrency.asp

Bambrough, B. (2020). “This Could Be A Very Big Week For Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple’s XRP, Litecoin And Chainlink”. Forbes. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2020/12/13/this-could-be-a-very-big-week-for-bitcoin-ethereum-ripples-xrp-litecoin-and-chainlink/?sh=3cb14ff636ee

Acheson, N. (2020). Crypto Long & Short: Bitcoin’s Quiet Progress Is Pointing Toward a Better Future. Coindesk. Retrieved from:

https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-satoshi-nakamoto-john-perry-barlow

Isler, M. (2020). “BITCOIN IN THE FUTURE – PROVEN TOP 15 EXPERTS PREDICTIONS”. iMi Blockchain. Retrieved from:

https://imiblockchain.com/bitcoin-in-the-future/