Steemit is an interesting metaphor for life. On here, I am only worth a penny. And, I gotta tell you, that's not far from my reality in life right now. Yup. Sometimes, we all hit rock bottom.
See, here on Steemit, I am a newbie, a minnow, my opinion is only worth one cent, literally. No matter how many times I hit that refresh button on Steem Now , I am still only worth a penny.
But that is ok with me. After all, a week ago, I was not worth anything on Steemit. I have literally doubled my worth. True story. That little clicker sat at $0.00 for at least seven days, the week before Christmas. I didn't care. I jumped around and upvoted every article that I read until the end. And, sitting on zero worth, I had nothing to lose. Just like in life, there is a freedom in that.
Besides, I was thankful to read and soak up info, ideas, art on Steemit without ads. I can't stand ads.
So, even not worth a penny, Steemit was worth the world to me. I enjoyed this $0.00 freedom of upvoting. It was like that old Janis Joplin song, "Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose."
Yup. The freedom of nothing. It was a great week, right up until day 7 on here.
That is when I first started getting paid. Just like in life, money changed everything. A little steam here for a comment a few steem based dollars there for posts. I was stacking the steem as 
Then, it happened. I refreshed that Steem Now screen and the little ticker said $0.01 ! Yea, dog. That's a penny, right there, money, and I was thrilled. I hopped around and started dropping that penny everywhere I found good content. After all, I am a writing teacher by day, I love to read and reward good writing. I was like a kid in a candy shop.
But, then the penny ran out. I freaked out.
So, I took to reading blogs on Steemit about steem power. I bookmarked a few. I learned much from 
Not good.
So, I took a break. Fortunately, it was Christmas and I had some time away from the computer. Since then, I have devised a plan. I will only vote on blogs every few days, bookmarking the ones I love. Back to that life metaphor, like in my life, I will use my penny like an A++ ... not everyone can get one and it is tough choosing. But, I only have one penny, and only for a limited time.
In the meantime, I will comment like crazy to show my support. That works well with me, too, because surprisingly, I enjoy the Steemit comment section. Thank you to Steemit developers for figuring out how to keep most trolls off this platform. My biggest kudos goes there. No one likes trolls, online or in life. True that.
In place of upvoting constantly, so I can grow my steem power, I will resteem articles more often. I don't think that eats up steem power, but I may be wrong. I mentioned I was a newbie, like in life, I am wrong often ;) I will test out my resteem theory to see if it eats up the steem power bar. Any dolphins or whales with an fyi, I'd love a comment below. Any advice is appreciated!
I will also continue towards my goal of blogging twice a day and adding 25 followers a day (for the first 10 days of January, while I am off of work). As a newbie, I am taking
That's my plan. Oh, and I will continue to convert my sbd to steem and power up. I am in for the long haul. Steemit is definitely worth the investment. What do you think of my "Penny Plan"?
Do you have suggestions for newbies like me? Drop your best advice for minnows below, I am all ears!! Thanks to all who helped me get to week three!
Oh, and many thanks to 
Happy 2018.
Blessings, Gator
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"And Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” ~ Mark 12:41-44