Hey folks. I just had a really god day and good workout. I'm feeling good so I wanted to share a little bit.

In the last 6 or so months I've been here, I've experienced a really powerful and positive change in myself. A lot of it has to do with the quality of the people here. It really feels like a family and that people genuinely care about each other here. Before F|A, I was struggling a lot in my personal life. My mom went into the hospital on christmas day and my dogs were sick and eventually had to be euthanized. I was in bad shape to say the least. I found some really surprising strength here though. That strength was being able to contribute to this community in a meaningful way; I could help make the servers a safe place, report some naughty-naughties and chat with people who really like the games I like. I felt USEFUL since I haven't been able to work for a while. At the same time, in real life, I've been practicing something called "assertiveness". Wikipedia defines it thus: "Assertiveness is the quality of being self-assured and confident without being aggressive." This community has allowed me the opportunity to develop that very productively and since I grew up, and have lived in, some pretty brutal and violent conditions, this has been key to my recovery process.

The interesting thing about this is that all I feel is gratitude. I feel gratitude because this clan is more or less filled with people that want the best for each other. And while I struggled last year and early this year, I received nothing but motivation and support while I worked on myself. I've gotten so much better too. I have never had so much success in my life before, and F|A has been a valuable part of that process. Quite honestly, I think FA is giving people a place to feel comfortable, respected, and welcome in a way that their life can't, for one reason or another, provide. I might go so far as to say loved, even. And that is something so valuable that it can't be priced.

I better stop there before the waterworks fire up and smear my writing. What a good chapter for my book this will be..

Sincerely,

-V