SHOULD I QUIT YOUTUBE??

today's date is March 12th 2024 I'm sitting in a parking lot at Newark Airport I have to run inside in a couple minutes to get on a flight but today's date is very significant and I'm going to tell you why on March 12th 2019 exactly 5 years ago to the day I started my YouTube Channel I didn't upload any videos right away but I created the channel and that was a big step for me because back then I had been traveling for many years already but I had never really documented my travels on video it was something I wanted to do and it took me a long time till I had the confidence to do it and eventually I said you know what I'm going to do this I'm going to start my YouTube channel anyhow fast forward 5 years um it's been an incredible journey and so many awesome things have happened over the past 5 years since I started the channel I just wanted to come on here and wish the channel a happy birthday I want to wish myself uh Happy 5-year birthday of having the confidence to do this and I want to wish you guys a happy birthday you know for the channel as well thank you guys so much for being here honestly um without you guys would be a whole different experience it started from nothing I still remember when I got to the number 100 100 subscribers I know where I was standing I was in a park in a playground with my children in Cape Coral Florida and I remember we got to 100 subscribers on that day and I was like so excited now you know a bunch of years later we've almost hit 60,000 subscribers and I say almost because we're still not there yet we're at 7 sorry we're at like uh 58,7 or something so if you're watching this please subscribe so we can get to 60,000 eventually to 100,000 eventually to a million YouTube actually gives out these really cool plaques when you hit 100,000 subscribers I'm looking forward to getting one of those and eventually on to a million and forward but anyway uh this is not why I want to make this video I want to tell you guys about something else that's been going on oh my my arm is getting tired here from holding the camera so I just rested it on the screen in the car um another thing I want to discuss in today's video which I'm going to keep it quick is that over the past 5 years a lot about this channel has changed so when it started it was really just about traveling all I wanted to do was show myself traveling the world what the experience is life what the experience is like traveling as a Jew Etc and that's what it started as this is this is what it still is today but they're also you know it evolved and and and new elements um were introduced to the channel one of them was the idea that we can bring the world together we can bring people together for the sake of making peace and it's something something I worked hard on it's something I know you guys were really into and it's something that I'm very passionate about till this day however since October 7th um when there was this extremely horrible terror attack by Palestinian Hamas terrorists on innocent Israeli civilians since that day it's been it's been hard to be optimistic about peace in the world because we're just seeing so many hateful things happening every day all over the world people are being targeted just because they're Jewish and and there's just so much conflict and strife and it's it's very very very discouraging and as somebody who's always been an optimist always been trying to look at the bright side of things it's been it's been difficult and at times over the past 5 months mons or 6 months whatever it's been since October 7th I've been honestly thinking like is there any point to this is there a way that we can somehow bring the world together is peace still possible and honestly I don't know there are days when I feel like it's possible there are days when I just I can't see it happening and sometimes I feel like giving up and you know stopping to post videos stopping to do what I do and I don't like these feelings because again I'm an optimist I I'm trying to always look up and know that better times are coming but sometimes things just get so rough and it's no fun no fun being being here when things are people are being nasty and and hating on me and hating on my people just because of who we are so that's something I've been struggling with recently and yesterday I was at the airport in Texas I was flying into nework and I was sitting at the gate ready to board my flight the flight got delayed a the flight got delayed a little bit and this woman walks up to me and she says are you the guy who makes videos I said well I mean yeah I guess so she started talking to me she was telling me about that she loves what I do and she's like you know it must be so difficult right now with everything going on and I said honestly it's it has been challenging she says don't stop no matter what you do don't stop doing what you do you should know that the work you're doing is so powerful and it instilled in so many people the idea that there can be peace in the world and and we can get together and we can look past our differences and focus on the things that we have common and it's people like like that woman and people like you who comment on these videos and who remind me that we're fighting for something that is so great we don't even know if it's possible but if it is possible it'll be so great that it would definitely be worth any hardship so I want to thank all you guys for your support even during the difficult times um it means the world to me and I would not be here without you guys no chance so thank you for being part of this YouTube family this YouTube congregation I really really appreciate every single one of you but this is not about me I want to tell you something else that is very important for you guys to know is that 5 years ago when we started this channel I really I was thinking like to myself who's going to watch this who's going to watch my videos why would anyone want to see this you know I knew why I wanted to start it and thank God I've achieved success on this channel beyond anything I could have ever imagined and I'm thankful to God for that to my wife for putting up with this and supporting me as much as she can and to my family and friends and all you guys but honestly I didn't I didn't know what would be I didn't know if this would work out and it takes a lot of confidence to point the camera at your face and put yourself on the internet and start making these videos that's not the only thing that can't that it's not the only thing that takes confidence there are a lot of things that take confidence and that uh you know people have dreams they want to accomplish things and for a lot of people they just say you know what this is not going to work or or I don't think I'll be successful at this and then they just give up on their dreams which is really not what this should be 5 years ago on this day March 12th 2019 I decided to not be afraid to not care what anyone thinks about me I was going to start this journey and who knows what's going to happen maybe I'd succeed maybe I'd fail but I was going to try so my message to you guys is it doesn't you don't need to be a YouTuber you don't need to do what I'm doing but I know for a fact that each and every one of you have things that you guys want to accomplish and go out do those things start the journey whatever it is whether you want to go to the moon become an astronaut or you want to become a millionaire or a billionaire or you want to start a charity that's going to feed millions of people or maybe you want to pursue a career in music write a book become a teacher become an artist whatever it is whatever it is that you want to do go out there and try to do it I can't guarantee you that you are going to succeed but if you start there's a good chance you will succeed and there's also a chance you might fail but you know what you know who really fails the person who never tries if you don't try you're guaranteed to fail so thank you for coming to my TED Talk I appreciate every single one of you um I'm sorry I don't upload as like as often as I'd like to and as often as you guys like H and as often as you guys would like me to but I'm only a human being I'm trying to get better at this and please be patient with me because I don't want to promise you but I'm I'm pretty sure that one day if I try hard enough I'll succeed at this at being at being consistent and at uh making awesome travel videos bringing people together and hopefully making the world a much much better place God bless you all thank you really from the bottom of my heart thank to each and every one of you for being here and uh we'll see you soon