I created a visionboard to help give me focus this 2018. 2017 was a blur of failures, heartache, misery and depression. It was one of the darkest episodes of my life and I nearly lost it.
Yet with the darkness there is the breaking of dawn. Light will slowly cast away the gloom and darkness and bring forth another day of hope and opportunities.
Steemit being a social platform made me want to share this message of hope and positivity through a gamification process and I was so overwhelmed with the response! My contest My First Steemit Contest | A 2018 Vision Board | 8 SBD up for grabs was curated and shared that I got so many views and a lot of people who wanted to join.
When I posted the contest I was expecting about 4- 6 people to respond and join in but the feeling was so phenomonal to have reached so many and I responded to each one. People who I would have never met or talked to was drawn to my message of hope. Even days after I could not believe it.
The first few days I was not expecting entries because it was nearly the New Year and I know people would be busy but I received some early bird entries. Four days into the competition I was satisfied because I have received my target of around six entries. Then the last day came and I was flooded as I received more entries than I could possibly imagine! I got 26 entries for my competition! 26 people went ahead and created their visionboard !
I was grinning from ear to ear but then it dawned on my that I had to choose three main winners out of 26 entries and when I began to read each one I was touched with the words they used. A lot shared their fears and depressions over the past year and how being in Steemit changed their lives. How the visionboard made them sit down and have that introspection moment, when life slows down and you assess whats going and reaching a clarity of what you want for 2018.
A lot of people gave their thanks and often times I had to stop after reading a post because it moved me so much. One of the most important aspect of Steemit is not just unleashing the creativity we have but also to inspire us to be more that what we today.
We practice wordsmiting, we practice our drawing skills, we practice singing and having our voice heard, we practice our eyes and take that photograph that makes people stop and take it in. We use our skills to enrich the world we live in.
I had set my deadline at 8PM and to be honest this has gotten to be one of the hardest things I have ever done. Everyone did their best and shared a piece of themselves. I would always treasure that. With almost half a bottle of red wine I was able to mellow down and get to choosing who won.
So here we go!!!
# 1st PLACE
My 2018 Vision Board and Why You Should Have Too! by
Inspired by the book The Secret 
My 2018 is full of love and happiness. I'm so grateful that my family are perfectly well. My mother loves her 60th birthday celebration (April) with catering service that she wished for. I thank Steemit for that. My kids getting bigger, smarter and full of life. I'm their best Mom ever! My husband finally understand cryptocurrencies and now he's addicted to it. He joined Steemit and were now a couple here! Our love keep flaming! My husband and I visit the Eiffel Tower in France, Rabat in Morocco and Barcelona in Spain. I'm so excited to blog about it in Steemit because the wings that made me/us fly is through Steem Power. Steeming on
She even gave a breakdown on how she created her visionboard with her daughter. Majority of the people gave plus points to her on that haha. She is definitely adorable!! She wins 4 SBD!
# 2nd PLACE
[My 2018 Vision Board: My Entry to @Maverickinvictus' contest✴️ 🎉}(https://steemit.com/visionboard/@jacinta.sevilla/my-2018-vision-board-my-entry-to-maverickinvictus-contest) by
The multi talented Jacinta made use of several mediums to add quirkiness and her character into the post clearly reflecting her personality and artistic inclination. It was such a joy going through her entry. She gets 2.5 SBD.
# 3rd PLACE
My 2018 Vision Board: Personal Growth, Health Improvement and a Kidney Transplant (fingers crossed)
A relatvely new comer in Steemit she was one of the last entries I received yet was one of the most heartfelt. Her simple design beguiled a deep story of loss and a promise of hope.
As much as possible, I will live a good unselfish life the best way I know how, one day at a time. I hope my story inspires you to love your life and be grateful for everything that you have. I'm probably at my life's end and I'm sick, beaten and broken down but trust me when I say that LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL! Don't waste it.
Her words are beautiful and have that tones of her pains and struggles in dealing with her life and I hope that the visionboard will spur her to see how life is indeed beautiful. She will give hope to a lot of people. She gets 1 SBD.
When I first thought of the prizes to give I was at first worried it was too small to attract people to participate because it is not easy to do. Everyone one can think of their New Year's resolution but to take that list and place it in a medium that can be seen gives life to it.
When we look at it everyday it empowers us and act make us act. It gives us focus as well as the drive to do it. It gives us the reminder we need. Yet most of all it gives us hope.
So I could not let the other participants have no prizes. In my eyes everyone is a winner as each one took that step to make life great in 2018. So I am giving each one 0.100 SBD.
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!
More than the prizes I hope that you will remember this exercise down the road when thinks are not looking up. Look to your post and know that 27 people, that includes me, made a step to be positive and hopeful and tell the universe that this is what we are aiming for this year. That we each gave each other so much positive energy and the universe return it to us two fold. I was so happy to see people that you don't know come and visit each entry and leave a wonderful comment. That is the Steemit community!
I would like to thank everyone in the 
Till the next unique contest that I will run! keep being awesome!
