Today Is My 2nd Birthday As A Steemian

Steemitboard made a comment today and told me this account was created exactly two years ago. I did not, however, become active until in June.

I was told about Steem by Hive account@gamer00 in February 2017. I wasn't hugely enthusiastic at first. Even the rewards were quite insignificant at the time since the price of STEEM was something like $0.1 at that time. I invested some more in Bitcoin that spring. Too bad that altcoins were pretty much flying under my radar until the summer. The price of Steem grew more than 15-fold during the spring, although it retraced to about $1-$1.5 in the summer and to about $0.8 by November before the great bull run started. I should've done like Hive account@gamer00 did and exchanged my coins and whatever fiat I invested back then for STEEM. That would've made me an instant Dolphin at the price level.

But more important that wallowing in regret is figuring out what can be learned from the experience. The price of STEEM is kind of low again but development is happening on such a broad front that it is getting difficult to keep track of everything. The price is bound to reflect that sooner or later. Too bad I don't have too much loose change at the moment. Moving and buying all the new furniture, lawnmowers and whatnot last year really drained my bank account. :)

This is an ideal time to keep building one's account both in terms of accumulating Steem Power and networking. It's relatively easy now as many people who came here only for quick profits have pretty much left the building. One such Steemian who is a 2016'er actually told me he's having real difficulty motivating himself to do anything but shitpost because the dollar value of the rewards is down the toilet. He said Steem "was fucked" by people and that he's no longer a believer in decentralization. :) I think that approach is not conducive to long-term success.

Steem is undergoing a great deal of organic growth at the moment. The hype around Steem is pretty much non-existent. Because I'm in this for the long haul, that is a good thing from my perspective. There are many higher market cap projects that are nothing but hot air and promises. Steem is where actual building is taking place and the best part of it is that as Steemit Inc has been forced to lay off most of its staff, the community has stepped up in a serious way.

My own approach has been a steady grind regardless of price movements. They haven't and will not move me at all. Hundreds of Steemians have become an important part of my online social environment now and I see no reason to pack up and leave even if the price were to continue stay at a low level. There simply is no viable competition around and even if there were, leaving this place and setting up shop there would involve another learning curve and missed opportunities on Steem.

I'm very grateful to Hive account@gamer00 for telling me about Steem and his continuing support that was very important particularly in the early phase of my journey. I would also like to thank Hive account@acidyo and Hive account@tarazkp for their benevolent support. With the passage of time, my support base has grown organically. I want to express special thanks to Hive account@harkar who suggested to the people who run the Hive account@ocdb bot that I be added to the whitelist in December last year. I was. Thank you to Hive account@harkar and the administrators of Hive account@ocdb!