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From the life of Getting to a life of Giving:

My life when I was a kid was a cycle of poverty. I came from a Family of Farmers. We were tenants of a rice field of about 4 Hectares when I was a kid. I grew up tending Carabao and planting rice. Farmers were the lowest in the society where we live in specially when you don't own the land you are planting. Each time we harvested almost more than the half of our harvests went to the owners of the land and to the lenders. I grew up in this way of living. We were farmers but there were times as I remember that I had to beg and loan for a cup of rice from our neighbor for just a meal. 'Till then, I promised to get out from being a Farmer. I planned to study well and get a college degree in order for me to get out from being a farmer.

But then this dream was so hard to achieve because of the high tuition fees of our schools back then. I was able to finish high school and I did not stop studying though I was not able to enroll in College. I studied in our Public Library. While my former classmates who were able to enroll in Colleges were studying I was there in our Public Library reading books. I read books about Psychology, History and Marketing... It was a personal study of my own by reading books. There was also a free Subscription of Spiritual Magazine so I grabbed it and had a supply of Magazine monthly coming to our home. I read and read and read. I did not stop studying on my own. I was not able to finish a College degree in a University but I have learned and I was educated on my own.

Yes I was educated, but I did not have a Diploma. It was then impossible for me to get high salary job because I had no College Diploma. I could not be a teacher or an office worker. All I was thinking was to be employed, but I had the skill of selling stuffs. When I was in high school I brought stuff made by my uncle, some are souvenir items and was able to sell to my classmates. But I did not dream of being a Sales person. I was dreaming to become an employee. Later then that I've learned that those who get rich were those who were in business, those who were in Sales.

This was my life, I was always dreaming to get more. To get and get and get...I want to get more money so we could become rich. All of my goal then was to get more, but then this has changed when I surrendered my life to the Lord. Yes, I still have the dream to get rich but not for myself alone anymore but to become a blessing to others. This is now my goal in life. To give and be a blessing. So, I searched on how to become a blessing to others. How to become rich and be a blessing to others. Then Internet came. I got excited with this technology. My love for reading was energized, there were vast of topics that I could learn and study for just a click of my fingers. I did not have to go to our public library anymore. Then, I've learned about the "Secret" method of getting what I desired. I desired to have a business of my own, which it could be a channel of blessing. Then I kept thinking of it. I imagined it to having it on my own. Then it came...

This was a product of my own personal study in Marketing. I was able to make a business proposal with a feasibility study and submitted it to an Appliance business owner and she was impressed and she entrusted me with some of her items and so our own Appliance store begun in our own town. It was almost 7 years now and our store is surviving. Yes, there were difficult times but our store was able to survive. Last year, 2017 we had a great trial. My wife got sick and had to go to different Doctors, they were not able to diagnose her sickness. She suffered and also our business suffered. Our business capital was almost drained. Thank God Steemit came...

From Facebook to Steemit

While I was surfing the net, particularly in Facebook, I encountered this advertisement. But, before this, I was thinking of a Social Media that pays us whenever we post. Then it came, steemit appeared one night in my browsing. It was @jerrybanfield's ads. Then I got interested, I knew it was I was looking for. I love to read and somehow like to write my thoughts. Then I registered and after two or three days I got my Password. I have not posted at once but what I did, I read and read articles from the trending page. I read a lot about steemit in the welcome page. Then I started to write, comparing Steemit to Facebook.

This was one of the first posts I've made. I didn't know much about Steemit back then, but one thing I knew, it was better than Facebook. Right now, I spend more time in steemit.com than in Facebook. Here I'm learning a lot, I enjoy reading other's posts. There are more Positive thoughts here than in any other Social Media platforms. So, one major change in my internet life now is that I am spending more time here in Steemit than in Facebook. I am more positive today than ever. Not only that, I am also earning while learning...And through these earnings I was able to give.

Steemit also helped us in our financial recover. From the earnings I've got from blogging since I've started here, we were able to pay some of our debts. I have earned and withdrawn a total of Php 42,500.00 that is about 820 USD for just about 9 months of posting here in Steemit.

The image above shows the withdrawal slips I've got when I withdrawn my earnings in Steemit. By this income, we were able to continue our business, which is now in its new location. My wife also got recovered from her sickness. Steemit has become a blessing to us and it's continually a blessing to us. From the life of getting now I am able to give.

Bringing Others into this wonderful Platform

Today, this has become one of my Missions - to bring more people to the Platform, especially those Youths who are studying and struggling financially. I know how it feels when someone desires to finish a college degree but couldn't because of financial difficulty. Thank God for Steemit, the earnings here could augment the financial needs of some students.

That is @jhaveapostol, one of the working students I've encouraged to join here in Steemit. He was able to pay the monthly installment for his motorcycle from his earnings in Steemit. He is using his motorcycle to go to his ministry outreach. Right now, he is saving up some of his earnings for the next school year. Truly, Steemit is helping people's lives.

Steemit is not only a channel of blessings, it helps us also to become a blessing. We could be a blessing when we encourage others to join Steemit and also teach them how to grow in Steemit. This time, I would like to thank Dr. Great Success a.k.a @dobartim for being an encouragement to us for hosting this contest and also a perfect example of being a good teacher here in Steemit. I don't know if I could emulate him of having a Steemit School but if I could have enough fund, yes I will put up a Steemit School also here in our place which I will call it "Steemit Academy." It will be a free School, teaching all about Steemit with free WIFI Internet connection. It will be a big Change in my life, it will become a Dream come true to me, because it was my Dream to become a Teacher. If ever I will win in this contest I will use some of my prize in starting this kind of school.

Thank you for your time...

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