Recently, I was reminded of how much I've earned here since joining and posting on steemit, by 
Congratulations @averageoutsider! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :You received more than 250 as payout for your posts. Your next target is to reach a total payout of 500
So, since my wallet unfolds displaying a mere 100 plus a wee bit more, I am also reminded of about how much I have given away to other people here; which is in the neighborhood of 150 steem or SBD. I'm not quite sure exactly how much I've given away directly; some of it was through 'tips' and such that I paid bots for to help out some friends.
Some of you (few) know that I gave a lot away through 'sponsorship' in the past to 
Unfortunately, 'most' of the people I sponsored through my writing contests in the past, have either stopped posting, or rarely post any longer. We've lost a great many adopters of the steem blockchain here over the past down turned Bear Market along with users dissatisfaction with steemit's lack of care for users experience here (so it seems)
Maybe they'll be back with renewed excitement as the value of steem increases, and steemit management makes changes or corrections that offer better 'hope' for us all. Users Experience, has seemingly been the biggest complaint from what I can gather from various posts...not only here, but 'sadly' complaints about steemit on other social media platforms.
Well, I'm not sure where I'm going with this post, it is something that just popped into my head at the moment.
A few posts ago, I mentioned that I might be giving the rest of my earnings here away, and was encouraged by a few friends 'not' to leave or "give up". Actually I was not coming from the standpoint of "giving up"; merely 'giving out' what I had left, and not posting until I feel the 'worth' of it for us 'small fries'.
I guess that I'm still a little 'hooked' though, because I haven't completely stopped posting LOL.
I'm going to keep my small earnings in tack as well and decide how to grow it and help other users in the future like I love to do.
Regards to all of you, who might stumble across this post and read it. I wish you well.
