^{Many of you are losing interest in this place now, as you watch your reward values steadily decline.}

I'll let you all in on a little secret now.

NoNamesLeftToUse - Now Is Your Chance.jpeg

^{Now Is Your Chance}

It's not really a secret.

^{You've heard the myth though.}

They'll always say:

It was easier to earn here, back in the day.

That line typically comes from people who were not here, back in the day. They're simply regurgitating a portion of the sales pitch used when paid votes first came onto the scene, or they're a disgruntled member who came here expecting a free lunch all while despising those who put in the time and effort it takes to get anywhere, here.

With these rewards and token values on a steady decline these days, you're now experiencing a portion of the struggle many of us who were here 'back in the day' had to face.

Does this feel easier?

^{No. Of course it doesn't.}

Now you're worried about your future here, possibly thinking the place is going to die, yadda yadda yadda.

Relax.

If you were already feeling like crap because your post was earning $1 while STEEM was worth $1, meaning you only received one STEEM, chill out. Now if your post earns $1, you're getting more than 2 STEEM.

If your $1 post brings in more than 2 STEEM and STEEM's value skyrockets back up to $5, your $1 post would then be worth more than $10.

Many of us who were here, back in the day, blogging for 10 cent STEEM, earning one or two dollars per post, were taking in 10 to 20 STEEM per one or two dollar post. None of us knew, back in the day, our low value posts would someday be worth over $100 at one point. We had no way of predicting the future. The struggle was as real then as it is now.

In that moment, we still had to put up with low value payouts. Some members back then decided it was a waste of time and they missed out on earning cheap STEEM. They then came running back when the value was high but had to start all over again from the bottom, earning $1 per post or less, while the rest of us were earning $20, $30, even $100 because we worked on maintaining a following willing to vote for our work, while those members who couldn't hack it were gone.

It all boils down to being in the moment.

^{Try your best to not think about how much 'today' sucks.}

You're now experiencing how hard it actually was to earn back in the day.

Work towards your future. We can't change the past and now happened so fast that it's a new now, now, almost instantaneously. Today will be gone tomorrow, so don't worry about it. Tomorrow might suck just as much but that'll be gone next week.

On behalf of everyone:

^{I'm sorry.}

I tried my best over the past year to explain why it's a bad idea to pay people to look away. I've done my part to encourage others to be mindful of the community, I've insisted they stick around and save some SP so they can vote for posts and help. Many refuse to help and there's nothing I can do to change their minds. Finding a balance and working together towards a common goal would be wise, but unfortunately 'teamwork' isn't something everyone is a fan of. That's life.

Right now would be the perfect time to ramp up curation efforts the organic way simply because so many have lost hope due to lower valued post rewards combined with a lack of members willing to vote; they're leaving. We'll just have to make do with what we have and reward those who stick around, still willing to help make this place a thing.

I'm looking forward to weathering the storm with you all. Those of you who are about a year old here or less, the members from that group will become the second group of seasoned veterans who've seen it all once the dust settles and we begin to rebuild.

Keep in mind: There are still many positives to pull from this situation; try to focus on those.

This will most likely be my last post on Steemit.

^Relax.

By that I mean on the topic of Steemit.

I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding but I found out the hard way, through the rumor mill of all things, Ned muted yours truly around the time this discussion took place.

I obviously did or said something wrong so if anyone out there can suggest ways for me to improve in that department, I'm all ears. I certainly don't enjoy making the same mistakes more than once.

At the same time, if my voice is not meant to be heard, regardless of what I do or say, good or bad, by the head honchos, then so be it. I'll spend my time just doing whatever, focusing on my blog, my world, where I belong. Yes, it's disheartening, discouraging, confusing; making me feel unwelcome. I won't let something like that bring me down. I'm sure this place will be just fine without me adding my two cents so I'll just hodl my pennies. Maybe they'll be worth something, someday.