UPDATE - My net let me down and I have been trying to upload this post since doing my powerup earlier in the day. So it may not be as much use as it would have been to newer users... Sorry😢 Gahhh!
HUZZAH! It's that time again.
I'm sure it's marked on your calendar, I'm sure Alexa or Siri reminded you as soon as the clock struck midnight and maybe you even had it tattooed on your forehead so you noticed it as soon as you looked in the mirror this morning.
That was my personal reminder of choice!
No No No I don't mean April fool's day, that's not at all relevant to me, I have a whole other 364 days of the year when I am more than capable of being a fool.
I mean #HivePud of-course
HIVEPUD - WHAT'S THAT?
Nooo You can't be asking that question, surely? HivePud day has been a global institution since the year 1352 when Abraham Lincoln's Father decided he would host a desert making contest to celebrate the birth of Tina Turner...
OK that's not entirely true.
But here's exactly what it is. It's one day per month conveniently pencilled in for the 1st, that's pretty convenient to remember, right? The purpose of the day is for as many of us as possible to come together and perform an almighty powerup and stake our collective Hive in our wallets thus turning it in to Hive Power, thus staking it in the future of our awesomebloodytastical community and the blockchain it is built upon.
That is something well worth doing in this guy's opinion, but why?
I'm sure you can guess some of the potential answers to that question that you never actually asked... But I just asked on your behalf... Even though I subsequently said you probably already knew those answers... Confused, you will be!
We all know that crypto is still in it's infancy and many people we interact with each day, our families, friends and colleagues really don't understand it yet. The little knowledge that people do have usually comes from press coverage of Bitcoin and as we all know the mainstream media are not always fair and balanced or should that be almost never?
We've all seen the horror stories,
John from London invested his pension in Bitcoin and the bailiffs repossessed his pet llama.
Shirley from New York invested her lottery winnings in Bitcoin and now she lives in a swamp.
Alan from Adelaide decided to diversify his stock portfolio and invested 10% of his cash reserves in to cryptocurrency and the local authority declared this illegal and now he has been flown to the US and they've re-opened Alcatraz to hold him for the remainder of his 600 year prison sentence.
Yup! Of course I am being flippant and embellishing things for slightly comedic effect, but you have seen news coverage almost as ridiculous, right? So when we try and explain altcoins like Hive we are definitely up against it the eyes of our peers, make sense?
If they are sceptical of Bitcoin the most publicised crypto of the lot, they will certainly view our proposition with suspicion. However in current economic times especially post-covid, if such a world even exists, people are gonna be looking for something new.
People will begin to ask us with more frequency if we are still doing that Bitcoin blogging thingumajig, this is a real example of the question I hear from workmates more and more all the time. Each time they expect me to admit it was a scam all along but when I tell I tell them YES! I proceed to show them my latest post and I sense a glimmer more credibility than last time they asked the exact same questions.
The other hysterical one that I hear often is, "Hey Ste, how much Bitcoin have you made so far 42 cents." This comes from a time at the beginning of that other home we used to share that morphed/evolved in to Hive.
I used to write posts that were as long as the ones I write now but I used to gain a reward of 3 cents or 0 cents but I continued writing because I realised I loved it and also because I understood the evolution of any blogger who starts here (or indeed anywhere) and believed and obviously still do, 100% in the future.
That was a long way round saying that as more 'normal' people enter our space, it is a great thing for us to demonstrate our commitment to Hive, it's growth and future and stake our very confidence literally and not just metaphorically on 2022, 2025 and beyond.
NeXt month I will discuss another benefit of powering up in more detail, if you are relatively new here don't miss it!
Powering up also demonstrates to those who know us here that we are not just talking the talk, we are walking the walk when it comes to our claimed belief in the chain, the crypto aspect and the future of our fabulous community.
Think of it this way, if you were a friendly whale looking for someone to support, would you choose the person who is constantly saying that they believe 100% in the future of Hive while keeping all the rewards liquid for a quick exit during the next pump?
I stole the below wordzzz from a previous HivePUD post of mine, explaining just some of the amazing benefits of powering up and growing your stake. (Although can one ever really 'steal' from oneself?)
Powering up grows your stake - increasing the vote you reward others with and also the curation rewards you that you earn. DOUBLE-WIN, Right?
Powering up helps to create a stable economy, imagine if we all grabbed our rewards, stuffed them in to a loot-bag and headed for the hills, laughing maniacally whilst crying out,
"It's mine AAAALLLLLL mine!"
Powering up lets others know your intentions here and helps them understand that you are around for the long-term.
Powered up Hive currently attracts A.P.R which is an incredible added bonus for staking your hive for the future. If you ever wonder about the current rate, it is displayed in the 'Hive Power' section of your wallet and will be communicated as shown below, rate correct as of now.
Now that I've explained you are gonna power-up, right?
Here's what ya need to know.
Check out THIS POST to ensure you understand the rules of engagement and to ensure you follow them all to the letter to ensure you get your special #HIVEPUD badge from the awesome-bloody-tastical 
YES I am aware I used the word ensure 3 times in a brief period back there, it was a conscious decision and I wanted to ensure I managed it...
So here's my results.
And after Power-up...
I am incredibly happy with my powerup and my growth throughout the merry month of March and next month will be even better. I have NEVER been more focussed on my Hive journey.
I literally just noticed I have received a HUGE delegation!!!
Oh wow! That's amazing, at this point I don't know where it has even come from although I have a slight suspicion I might know... Update on that soon!
Thank YOU for taking the time to read my post and if you're one of those amazing people who like to hit the comments section... Then I doubly thank YOU!
Either way I want you to know that you are appreciated!
