I joined hive precisely on the 14 of November 2017 due to my inquisitiveness on one part and through a friend on the other part - I will explain. It was one of those less busy days at work when I saw a colleague typing away furiously on his laptop. I jokingly asked why he was typing as if he was going to get paid and his reply got me. He pointed out how one can write and get paid on this platform and when I inquired further and got convinced of its genuineness, I needed no further catalyst. I signed up on the same day and never looked back since then. The marriage between myself and hive has been nothing short of pure love.
I could have quit during the early days due to my naivety but users like 
Knowledge
There is a popular saying that "Readers are leaders." If this is indeed true, then this puts writers at a higher spectrum above leaders. Ever since I made my introductory post, I cannot really keep a tab on the number of articles I have written. Not only has my writing evolved significantly, but my reading and comprehension skills have also gone up a notch. I have also been able to acquire some markdown and soft coding skills through my various interactions on the chain.
In addition to all of the above, I now understand some basic copyright rules and my written English has also improved a lot. Most importantly, I have gained the knowledge of cryptocurrency - a knowledge that might become a gold mine if crypto were to witness mainstream adoption. If only knowledge can be quantified in the form of money, I am sure it will stay at the top of the list of what I have benefitted from hive.
Social gains
On the hive chain, I have built a virtual family such that staying away from them for a few days will create a kind of craving in me. Since the day I signed up, I cannot remember staying away from interacting with hivers either on the chain or off it for more than 24 hours. This shows how important hive has become in my life. When real-life challenges throw me down, my real and virtual family are equally important in raising me up.
Through hivers, I sometimes get to know of trending issues in various countries long before it gets to centralized media. The peer to peer interaction with other people from different countries of the world represents a huge pool of benefits that one can tap from.
Financial gains
Perhaps this is by far the most obvious benefit of interacting on the hive blockchain from my personal point of view. I have been working a real-life job that pays less than $200 per month for more than four years now. Hence, posting my contents on hive has been significantly augmenting my income from the onset. The story of how I got my first and still my only car stands out.
When I newly joined in November 2017, I had a zilch knowledge of what crypto was all about. I was publishing articles and kept piling the payouts up in my wallet because I had no idea how to change the virtual currency into real, currency. However, I kept on interacting, reading, and accumulating knowledge about crypto both by reading on the chain and by chatting with hivers. During all these periods, the massive bull-run started.
By the time I acquired knowledge just enough for me to able to trade cryptos for fiat, the bull-run peaked and I was able to sell my stash for cool money. The money I made ran into a few million in term of Nigerian Naira and I was able to offset two things with it: I sorted out issues relating to my Dad's health and bought my first car. This will remain an unforgettable moment in my life.
Hive and the COVID-19 situation
There is no gainsaying in the fact that the COVID pandemic has impacted on the pockets of almost - if not - everyone. In my country here in Nigeria, many people have lost their means of livelihood due to the lockdown and there have been zero palliatives from the government. Instead, the government has been introducing spurious taxes and compounding the economic woes of her citizens.
I work as a Teaching Assistant in one of the private universities in Nigeria and since the lockdown about 5 months ago, the employer has stopped paying salaries. Luckily for me, the commencement of the lockdown period coincided with when Hive moved away from the former blockchain and the stake I had on the former blockchain became handy in catering for my financial obligations. Of course, that could only last for a while.
I have been encouraged by many people to increase the frequency at which I publish on the chain in order to maximize rewards and meet my financial needs in real-life but I am a firm believer in quality over quantity. Since no one knows the extent of the impact this pandemic would have and when normalcy would return, I have decided to set up a small printing business within my neighbourhood around here. This is where hive comes-in again.
In order to raise the necessary funds for the printing business, I have decided to power down some of my hive stake and exchange it for fiat. Even though the estimated amount needed to start the business runs into about $1,500, I believe that raising part of the funds from my hive stake is a necessary decision. Hence, if you noticed that I have initiated a power-down of my stake, it is not because I want to quit the platform (I'm never quitting).
Closing thoughts
Hive could mean different things to different people, but for me, it means a whole lot. I sincerely believe that hive serves some group of people more than some people. It is like a gold-mine for those of us in developing countries as long as we keep contributing quality content to the chain. Whosoever brought the idea of incentivizing authors through delegated proof of stakes must be a lifesaver to some of us.
In conclusion, if you ask me about my hive testimony, I would say it has been nothing but love.
Thank you all for reading my rant.