I took these through the window of the apartment today which is about as close as I get to taking a sunset shot these days. I am generally home form work after dark or like tonight, my wife was out and I was with our daughter which makes travelling for taking photos impossible. 

## Take what you can get

https://i.imgur.com/zbvJLGO.jpg

Take what you can get is kind of the way I live my life and most of the time it translates into a hell of a lot of work and a hot wife, which let's face it - is just more work. But it is also how I see my earnings on Steem these days too and I take what I can get, under a few pre-conditions with the main one being the core of my personal philosophy - *Don't be a dick.*

Everyone has their own definition of what a "dick" is of course but I don't want to look in the mirror one day and have to say, "Geez, I turned into a dick." I am pretty sure that my wife will be the one saying that as she walks out the door. 

*At least I will have some time to take pictures of sunsets.* 

https://i.imgur.com/xi1ftVV.jpg

Earning Steem is a bit of a privilege in my opinion as even though there is work done and yada yada, the work done isn't likely to get any *economic* traction in any other forum without a massive amount of work put in and, the kind of work of self promotion that I am not comfortable doing. Many seem to think that writing a book or being adequately monetized on one of the various platforms is an easy job but, those who can live off it have to essentially live and breathe that life also. 

On Steem, people can do much the same thing with a lot less work and *quality* and earn *something.* Not only that, that "something" is a cryptocurrency that is likely going to appreciate in value significantly in the coming months and years. I am priveleged to have this opportunity to get into an industry at the ground floor that is going to become a series of skyscrapers like none the world has ever seen before. Those in now are potentially going to have penthouse apartments in them one day. 

https://i.imgur.com/Hjhk88k.jpg

A year or two after my hot wife and I started living together in my small apartment in the city, we decided to sell it and move into the suburbs and a neighborhood that I wouldn't consider, *first class* by Finnish standards but, it also isn't bad. Nature is close, there is a lake close and from my balcony, I can occasionally catch a glimpse of a pretty sunset.

*Take what you can get.*

The reason for the move however was financial. While I could afford to live in the city center at the time, the apartment only had one bedroom which meant that eventually we would have to move anyway if we were to have children, which was the plan and become a reality as *child.* There will be only one. 

On top of this, I was starting my own business in a risky move that would cost me my current income and I needed a place to work from, the lounge room wasn't an option. With the future very uncertain, I had to reduce fixed costs as much as possible which meant selling my place for some profit and, buying a larger, but crappier place. I gutted and renovated it myself to make it livable but the big win was having reduced the monthly expenditure enough to cover my immediate needs *and* have an extra room for an office (now babyroom with a PC - it is what @smallsteps posts from and spends all night coding for the blockchain on).

https://i.imgur.com/awkXoWp.jpg

For a little while, we were motoring along pretty well with lower costs, an increasing revenue on my business that covered costs plus a little to save and, I still had a hot wife. After our daughter was born things went drastically downhill as my daughter had complications, my hot wife had complications and as a result of the two, my own business had complications enter into the mix. 

But, 
## Take what you can get.
 
That is what I had to work with and therefore, that is what I would work with. People complain about their lives so much (including me) but at the end of the day, what choice is there but to live and deal with what arrives? Where is the point in complaining if one isn't going to actually do anything about it - attention seek much?

Life can be a hell of a lot harder than it is today for me and it could be a hell of a lot easier too. Someone asked me yesterday if I really meant to hold for 10 dollar Steem and yes, besides playing at trading a little, I will. The reason is that at the moment, other than getting hit by a bus or any other number of things, there is nothing in the world that is looking to grow as valuable as what I have in Steem and I don't see the point in investing all of this effort into it unless, it is going to significantly change my life in the future. I would rather risk it all now and have a chance for real change than continually complain about not having what I am unwilling to work for. 

Well, the only other thing that is going to always be more valuable than Steem is my family. 
If that is all I have, that is plenty too. 

I will take what I can get, live with what I have and, improve where I can. 

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]