I'm sure nobody enjoys hearing that line. You can't do it alone, all of us, me included like to feel like we are capable, resourceful and able to pull ourselves by our own bootstraps as they say. But aside the idealistic self I may hold in a pedestal, I'm willing to embrace some realities about my own existence and drink some "wake up" juice.

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In the beginning many people jump on this platform with the idea that they will create amazing content (their version of course) and that by some sort of karma-like system followers and upvotes would follow their little journey. This particular experience depicted poorly in one line might actually happen, it might be the case that some people did jump on to Steem and simply by making awesome content they gained a giant following and thus, had success. However I can guarantee without having to do much exploration on the matter, that those cases are rare and few in between.

Planning for the Rule and not Exception

Is an essential part of drinking some of the "wake up" juice we all need. The truth is that for most of us, the content we create, specially at the beginning will have little to no effect on the speed of growth of our accounts. If thinking about it this way hurts your feelings and attacks your sense of merit, I get it, I had to go through the same thing and I too find it distorted. My opinion on the matter, that is to say how things should be, holds very little bearing on how things are currently, and I am one to prefer operating within the walls of reality.

If you are feeling a little frustrated

Thinking that things are not going according to plan, I submit to you the possibility that this feelings you are harboring in your heart might be a good thing for you. They might be the ones that wont allow you to fall into complacency and making an argument as to why none of us would benefit from complacency is not hard to do.

If my words are a little upsetting I apologize, but the truth is that It does upset me to see the complains that run rampant on this platform of ours, simply because somehow someway the users who actively share their negative opinion have decided that the best investment of their time is to call out the "evil whales" who control the rigged system.

Do something, Build something, Join Something

Or shutup, its really that simple. The idea that complaining ever accomplished a thing is laughable to say the least. Remember that guy that complained his way into success? I don't, I've never heard of such story, and I'm sure that's because you can't ask a rock to become a tree.

The truth is that for all the shortcomings that this blockchain might have, for all the issues on the code, the skewed distribution of the Steem Power, the drama of the sometimes ugly Trending page, there are thousands of beautiful things happening too. If you are struggling to see them, if you are struggling to embrace them, that might be because you've not made the decision to see them.

This reminds me very much so as to how the News Cycle Works in the world, specially in the information era. All you hear is how many people died, how many people got robbed, the attack to a certainly embassy, you get the idea.

My experience

Once I joined Palnet - Minnow Support Group everything changed. I understood what this place, this ecosystem was all about. It was not enough for me to show up, share posts about songs, stories and recycle old content. It was about building connections with other people, building a network around me of like minded individuals that care about the same things I do, people who are also looking for "the answers".

It's no secret, I've said this probably a hundred times before. Before I started participating of this blockchain, before I joined MSP and became a member of the #openmic I was very depressed. I thought It had to do with my economic situation, the businesses that I was attempting to run efficiently and constantly seemed to turn against me. (the perils of being an entrepreneur) - But I was wrong, very wrong. What I needed, what maybe we all do is human connection, that is where true wealth is mined, to use a word that belongs within our system's context.

And that is my message to you, specially if you are feeling a little lost, a little overwhelmed by this whole thing. Join a community, be part of that community, learn about other people, connect.... Next thing you know, you won't be making pennies, you will be making some double digits, but the best part is that you will enjoy the whole process so much more.