I’ve been going through a tough time with school when it suddenly switched to online. The only way I can explain it is Mr Satan (Hercule) from Dragonball Z and his delayed punch. You knew it was coming, but it wasn’t until later you felt it. With COVID I knew that it was coming and the first two weeks were great until things got more serious and gravity of how much it changed my way of life. I’m currently doing prerequisites in hopes of gettting into medical school. So to me, my classes were very stressful especially with many teachers giving 10 minute lectures/week for a 9 hour a week class. All the hard work is done and only finals are left. Considering it’s online It won’t be that difficult. At the same time I also jumped into collecting pokemon and I got caught up in the FOMO. As a few of you know I had a big collection with many hard to find set cards in PSA 10. I was a little overwhelmed at first of the daunting task ahead and the seemingly never ending rise in prices. Now that the dust has settled on things I’m reminded again of gratitude. I wanted to start a positive thread about gratitude.
I am grateful for the wonderful experience and journey that I had with pokemon. The thrill of hunting cards, meeting friends, financial freedom and the joy of collecting. Thank you all for you feedback when I ask a question or ask for advice.
What is something you are grateful for? (doesn’t have to be pokemon)
As far as Pokemon is concerned, i’m grateful I got in to the hobby when I did. I was able to open Skyridge and Neo boxes back then that would now help finance a house, while sitting in my pyjamas drinking a coffee. Not worrying about making my money back, just purely enjoying the set/art of what was still a relatively niche TCG is something that I’ll never be able to do again. Being able to visit Japan while invested in cards and lurking through card stores before entire businesses established around ransacking local supply and having it all graded and flipped was amazing too.
For boring irl stuff, I’m grateful for my beautiful dog lol.
Being raised on a farm, learning how to have a good work ethic at a young age. (I was driving trucks/tractors before I could see over the steering wheel)
Growing up close to A LOT of my family/still living in the same community today
And not to forget of course collecting/selling Pokemon cards and Sports cards.
Those boxes are so out reach for most collectors. That’s just for one box. It would be extremely hard to open something so valuable without thinking of money. I was very privileged to open boxes and packs simply searching for 10 candidates. Which was your favorite box to have opened?
I like this idea for a thread! Personally, I am incredibly thankful to have a roof over my head, a stable job, a wonderful fiancé, and food in the fridge. Everything else is secondary. Like you, I also sold a number of cards that meant a lot to me and have ultimately been unhappy about it. However, I think being able to partake in this hobby at any level really is a privilege. I’m sad for what I lost but that is completely eclipsed by my happiness for what I already have.
I’m grateful to have a loving future wife. That my family and loved ones are healthy and safe. I’m thankful to own as many old set cards as I do. Also thankful they went up in value. Not worried about money but it justify the thousands upon thousands spent. And grateful to talk to some of you guys and read and take place in some interesting conversations. Even the Dblast ones make me laugh even tho they were once frustrating haha. Just enjoying life in general. Life is short. It’s better to enjoy yourself be happy and be thankful for what we have
@hisoka107, Man. This reminded me so much of my years when I was getting my engineering degree. Going through the rigorous course for 4 months straight at a time, it gets exhausting; and you truly don’t know it until you complete your last final exam for the semester. I can actually admit that I shed a few tears after completing my first year in college. It was the combination feeling of both accomplishment but also having that weight off my back of having to push through. I can’t imagine what you and thousands of other students had to go through when this COVID situation basically flipped everything on it’s head. But you pushed through and that’s a huge accomplishment in itself. Now you can focus on the less stressful things (like the Pokemon market )
As for me, I am grateful for my family as they give me the reason in life (as cliche as that sounds). Especially the birth of my son, because without him, I would have never gotten in to this hobby (we started watching HardCorllector when he turned 2 years old). And if I never got into collecting Pokemon, I would have never met all of you guys here at Efour! That’s what I am grateful for.
I will keep my response mainly limited to the hobby, as I´m enormously greatful for a a plenty of aspects in my life (family, job, health…)
I made the first purchase after my almost 12 year hiatus in 2015, but only got really into collecting around 2016. I was fortunate enough to set myself a variety of goals, which I´m now, 4 years later, almost done with. Only due to this forum and a variety of great people in the community I was able to do this. I learned more about the hobby as I could´ve ever imagined, I always considered myself as a purely casual collector. The hobby (including this forum!) brings me so much joy, I´m extremely grateful for that as it allows me to relax after a day of work.
Great topic @hisoka107, it is really important to reflect on the things we can be grateful for especially when times are tough!
I echo a lot of what has been said above, I am also grateful for a loving supportive family, to have a roof over my head, flushing toilets and food on the table.
I am grateful for our National Health Service, and that I am finding direction in my career after years of trying many different things. I am grateful for nature!
Pokemon wise I am so lucky to be able to own some of the cards that I do, if I was entering the hobby now a lot of them would be completely out of reach for me. Massive thanks to all those in the community that helped me achieve this! I am so happy I managed to visit Japan and be able to visit and browse the Pokemon card shops there myself, so fun! I recommend everyone that can go to try it someday!
@ccrntrade, A great work ethic is something people really don’t appreciate. If you didn’t grow up with it then it takes a lot of dedicated work when you’re older to not only develop it, but to break those bad habits first before you can build it.
I served with a lot of guys from the midwest and Texas. Tremendous work ethic, not a lot of big talkers overall they were impressive and inspiring to be around.
@connorc, being physically able or able bodied is something a lot of us take for granted. I’ve been enjoying dog walks daily because of COVID. something that simple, cheap and easy is impossible for some. I like it!
@mario005, exactly. You hear people say I wish I would have bought this, gone on this trip, owned this car, etc. Most of here that have since sold cards that are very rare & valuable cards at least had the pleasure of obtaining, owning and appreciating it for period of item.
@waynesworld, going to college, even if it’s more accessible now, is huge accomplishment and like you I was very blessed to have graduated. Our department didn’t have a counselor so I didn’t know how to plan concurrently to take prerequisites for graduate school and undergrad requirements. COVID threw things from my meticulously planned schedule around 17 units and two jobs. I think it was Mike Tyson that said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth haha. COVID felt more like a board wipe from MTG.
Congratulations on your son! I got into collectibles because of my dad at a young age so he’ll definitely cherish those memories of collecting with you. I’m glad you are on the forum. Have you made a collection thread? I’ll have to look up Hardcorllector.
I am grateful for direct-port nitrous injection, four-core intercoolers and ball-bearing turbos and titanium valve springs. (who can guess the movie???)
But on a serious note, I am grateful for family and friends, because without them, life would be really, really boring. I am also grateful for the Pokémon hobby and community. I have no idea what I would be doing without it. Seriously, I get obsessed with things, and those things can be good or bad. I’m glad Pokémon has had a beneficial and positive impact on my life, unlike other things I’ve been obsessed with and gotten myself involved in in the past.
extremely grateful my family is healthy, we are in a hard hit virus area and know many people who have contracted coronavirus
have a job I can do fully remotely and while we have had budget cuts I do not have to worry every day about being laid off
adopted my first pet ever in December (was not allowed to have pets growing up), a 4 year old cat named Penelope, and she lights up my life every day
close friend just got a job as a contact tracer with a full one year contract due to her public health background, super relieved for her as she was graduating master’s program into an incredibly tough job market
parents and siblings at relatively low risk of being laid off compared to 2008-9 financial crisis
PBS has been putting out many learning resources (lesson plans, classroom videos, New educational programs) for at-home learning with schools closed and the response we have gotten from parents and teachers makes me proud and grateful to be supporting this work
Pokémon:
have every WOTC card I want for my sets except around 5-10. Would be a massive undertaking to complete mint binder sets from scratch at today’s prices
can basically tune out set card drama once I get the remaining few cards
don’t plan on ever selling any binder cards so not agonizing over price fluctuations
closer than ever thought possible to completing my Chansey collection
I’m grateful for growing up on a farm as well and being physically talented enough to achieve success in the higher levels of football. The combination of those two really instilled a work ethic in me that I wouldnt of been able to achieve doing anything else. It also taught me the value of teamwork, looking past race, knowing what I can’t do, and appreciating the little things. Above all else I really am grateful for pokemon (collecting/tcg/community) because it helped me achieve/maintain sobriety several years ago and you cant put a price on that lol.
For me it’s definitely finally managing to stick with a slightly healthier and active lifestyle. Working from home for years, eating mostly junk food and barely doing any exercise was really bad…
In just little bit over a year I have now lost ~43kg (95 lbs) of weight and reached a healthy BMI range for the first time probably since high school. I have way more energy in general now and don’t feel tired all the time like I used to. Started running too few months ago. The only downside is that pretty much all of my current clothes are way too big for me now, definitely have to do a lot of shopping for this summer lol.
@emba
This story sounds really familiar, between 2014 spring and 2019 spring I lost 52 kilos in total ( original goal was 30 kilos during first year ) by mostly running, eating well and ice swimming during winter. Everything began climbing on a scale after long break only to see monitor glass breaking in half before any numbers appeared on it.
Great job! For me it was really hard at beginning and I was sure I would fail like at my all previous attempts, it was satisfying seeing the results after sticking to it and not giving up instantly. Still trying to lose few more kgs and then just trying to maintain it and hopefully never going back to the old sedentary lifestyle
@hisoka107, i commend you heavily for adding this thread. I feel the pain of school online as well, but this is a fantastic way to look on the bright side of things for sure. Thank you.
As for me, im grateful to be alive each and every day to have have the opportunity to embrace this world for all that it holds. As someone who didnt think id make it past 25 while suffering from various mental health issues/addiction matters, its truly a blessing to be able to wake up each day in health now and take hold of the great things life has to offer. With that, im also extremely grateful to be here on e4, on discord, and a part of this great community to share common interest and love for pokemon while making new friendships. Its such a light for me to be a part of this all and help spread positivity, and theres nothing i honor more than those who also share part in this as well.
Everyday is another opportunity for happiness, so long as you take the steps to allow yourself to see it all. You guys rock.
Kudos to @hisoka107 for a great uplifting topic idea!
Overall, I’m very grateful for being blessed with a tight-knit family, a great best friend who shares my interests, very loving and loyal doggos (3), as well as a clean bill of health.
As per Pokemon, I’m very grateful that I have pretty much all the Pokemon cards I wanted for my personal collection. Though I lost (stolen) or sold most of my more valuable cards, I still have the ones that mean the most to me which are priceless. The very cards I pulled as a beginner Pokemon trainer and the stories attached, as well as a few of my favorites I kept over the years and graded 9s or even 10. That feeling of joy when you can hold YOUR cards pulled well over a DECADE ago, there just really isn’t any beating it…they are my most valuable mementos from my Pokemon journey and I will never let them go.
)
Everyday is another opportunity for happiness, so long as you take the steps to allow yourself to see it all. You guys rock.