This is my happy place.  Ever since I met my future wife and she dragged me along to her annual family holiday I have been in love with this Lake.  It’s been a bit of a sanctuary and a welcome respite for a lot of years now as my regular life can seem like a bit of a rollercoaster sometimes.  The serenity of this place seems able to consistently hit the “Reset” button for me each year.  This morning I meditated with this outlook on a perfect late summer day…and I just hit that button.

<center>![lake.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmcvgmFypZgU8hUrrXBTbWnh5FtxiLYyk9TYuJThJEKP3x/lake.jpg)</center>

I always take this time by the lake to reflect on the year that’s been and ask myself some of those big existential questions, the answers to which have frequently changed the course of my life….and I’ve had a few changes.  Sometimes I take a notepad and just do a bit of a brain dump.  I explore my ideas and express my creativity, without knowing where it will lead.  Last year I had determined that my priority was going to be the birth of our 2nd child (and it has been), but I had also noted it was time to look back into this Crypto thing and find out what this new Ethereum was all about.  I had no idea this idea would lead me on one of the wildest rides of my life yet!

<center>![snoopy.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQhkXUjJobFmuRBNYbUPTQm3BXgN3DGofciRGnyUrzc6x/snoopy.jpg)
[Source](https://acupofruit.wordpress.com/2015/11/04/are-humans-becoming-too-powerful)</center>

It gets harder with kids and thankfully my tireless wife has taken the kids to the beach so that I can have the morning to reconnect with the Lake.  I know it sounds wishy-washy and I’m not really a new age religious or spiritual type.  Sometimes we don’t really need to understand what works, we only need to understand that it does.  Maybe later we will cruise out on the father in-laws boat for a fish or maybe we’ll have a fire and sit around telling stories.  My mother in-law has been coming to this place for over 50 years so there are more than enough stories.  It’s a very long family tradition, and I can respect that.

<center>![boat.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSQiwTUcFjccMo9vswYSbEXtEJUECsK1Jy7fuDs6bDmnw/boat.jpg)</center>

It’s one of the reasons I started writing about my Sports Betting again.  I don’t think there is much audience for it here yet on STEEM but it was here at the Lake years ago where I first had the idea and then was inspired to toss in my 9 to 5 job years later to give it a real crack.  Breaking from the mainstream was the best thing I have ever done.  I took the Red Pill by this Lake and never looked back.  Only just the other day I found out there is Alluvial Gold running under the Lake and that just makes me smile considering how much of a Gold Bug I’ve become.

<center>![redpill.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWPA7we22b9UpPoxT7Ne4MkP54x4L8rXc23U5Cj4iRSQs/redpill.jpg)
[Source](http://www.humanisme.dk/matrix/index.php)</center>

So this year I’ve really needed the break.  I have been exhausted trying to keep up with all my Side Hustles and Crypto has totally blown my mind this year.  When you are juggling so many balls in the air it’s inevitable that you’ll drop one or two, but I really wanted to keep up my writing.  It’s an expression of my creative side that I haven’t always been able to do.  So today I know I am kind of rambling, but it feels therapeutic and if you’re still reading this I’d like to thank you for embellishing me.

<center>**Do you have a Happy Place?  Where is it?**</center>
____

<center>![TeamAust_buggedout.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSfn8N9CPKHUUsqp7KUXwbUJEyT96qLw91AWdz2gTiVcr/TeamAust_buggedout.png)</center>

<center>**Images and Credits**
https://acupofruit.wordpress.com
http://www.humanisme.dk</center>