New Month, New Everything?

**Nah!** New day, yes. New opportunities, yep. New things, oh yeah! New me? Hmmm, nope! That's not gonna happen anytime soon. I'm still me. My little boy is still Yongi, the Farmboy is still my partner in crime and everything else, DD is still our *home,* and I'm still here, breathing, blinking, Hiving😁 **So yeah, Magandang buhay😍** We welcomed the first BER month of the year (SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER, DecemBER), and Christmas vibes started in the Philippines. Some have dressed their pets in festive costumes, and I'm sure some are already playing Jose Marie Chan tunes in the air. Not us, though. We don't wish to drag December too soon, lol! In fact, we want the days to slow down a bit so we can savor them even more before another month or year comes. **Anyway, hello, September!** It's the first of the new month, and here on the chain (at least for some people), it means HPUD time! And because I don't have the intention to miss (or skip) any of it, I staked some of my liquid HIVE the moment I remembered. While I failed miserably on the PUM and other related initiatives, I'm at least on a streak with Hive Power Up Day since January 2022. And today marked the 45th, so yay me!

Yesterday, I read something that disheartened me. I wasn't aware a new downvote drama was happening on-chain. A whale with 10m HP is targeting short-form content (threads) that have been curated by the leo.voter on INLEO. And some long-term supporters of the chain have been discouraged. One of those who inspired me to keep growing my stakes admitted he is tired of it all, but he is still building, focusing more on layer 2 assets. It made me pause for a wee while and think whether I would continue growing my HIVE stakes or consider a different approach. I suddenly had doubts, but didn't want to force a decision while I was emotionally challenged. Today's power up (albeit small) confirmed my decision to build anyway.

My HIVE stake (HP) has increased by approximately 1,446 HP in two months (my last recorded number during HPUD was on July 1st). *So far, so good,* as my ex-boss used to say. So here's to growth and a fantastic, fulfilling new month!🍻🥂!