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I will let you in on a little secret - I am optimistic that Steem will do well. 

I know. 

*Shocking.*

And, what if I'm right? 

https://i.imgur.com/UDQGFgl.jpg

Just after the bullrun of late 2017 and the prices started to drop heavily on SBD, there were people who said "how come no one told me" - they had. People hear what they want to hear.

Since I have been on the platform, the advice has been to Powerup because *stake is your voice* and it gives access to the pool. It has always been that Steem Power is valuable and will be more so in the future. Yet people who have been selling here for years act as if  they never knew, that they were never told. 

The next will be Resource Credit delegation pools I guess, and people will again say they never knew they were valuable.

It is always the way though, not just on Steem. When it comes to investing into what is valuable, only some will do it and only some will do without to be able to do it. Like those kids who kept their Star Wars figurines in plastic while every other kid busted open the packet of their Luke Skywalker figurine and trashed it. 

Being able to delay gratification is among the best indicators of future success - it doesn't mean waiting around passively though. The delay is in the taking of reward, not the activity that is required to earn the reward and the work is generally a prerequisite to be in the running in the first place. 

While I might shill Steem often enough, I would be crazy not to, because I am optimistic on it and am hoping that others will benefit also.  It isn't a place of handouts however, your successes and failures in this life are yours, own them. 

And that is what the real value of Steem Power is, *ownership.* Ownership of digital space, ownership of a way the pool flows, ownership of content and experience. Everyone should know this by now. 

*"But what about the the new people coming in?"* 

It is a funny argument that some have as they fight for the new folk with their words and in the next breath complain that there are no people coming to Steem - which is it?

At the moment the space has a lot of people who have or had a lot of potential to own more of the platform, more Steem Power, more Resource Credits and therefore, more say over what goes where and what does what. 

115,000,000 liquid Steem going for around 15 cents each, a price that people were begging for by mid 2017 after Steem went to a dollar. 

*"It isn't fair! You bought your Steem at 15 cents!"*

This is always the interesting thing when price increases as people will say that the only reason some are successful is because they got cheap Steem, even though they were around at the same time. 

Steem Power has value and therefor by default, Steem has value. Everyone has been told this 1000 times before, why is it a surprise and unfair when something changes that rewards the very mechanism that people have been told is the lever to success on the platform? 

I am just a little fish in comparison to many larger out there, but I envisage that one day it won't matter as long as those who have Steem Power work toward making it a valuable commodity through decentralisation of the ecosystem and empowering the user base. Empowering doesn't automatically mean *paying,* although that can be part of the stabilisation process.

What I like about Steem collection over Star Wars figurines is that it grows in value through usage, the packet is designed to be ripped off and the toy used. Digital assets like Steem are a lot more fun in the process of value creation as they do not suffer wear and tear and they are pristine regardless how many times they change hands to eventually fall into the grip of real collectors, the holders. 

Sure, I understand the *I need the money now* mentality, as I have lived it most of my life and it is the reason I am uninvested in stocks and shares and all the traditional vehicles. I needed the money now for clothes and wine, cigarettes and cappuccinos. 

>I never had enough to invest, yet always found a way to spend. 

Lessons learned for me though and I owe at least part of that to.some of the people of Steem who helped and harmed me along the way. Yes, I have been harmed here too, supported people who took advantage, helped others who used it against me at a later date. Lessons. 

Sometimes I feel the sense that I am meant to be guilty for doing well on Steem. Yes, I know I am fortunate and I am grateful to many and the part luck played, but the prerequisites were always done prior to the support and the Powering up was always done after. 

I no longer know how much Steem I have bought off exchanges or what I paid in total, but the first I bought was at around 2.00 before the bullrun and I held it all the way down. I don't mind though because, *I am still here* and, I am still optimistic. 

Not because I am holding a bag of bought Steem and a pile I have earned with more work than I have done in the rest of my life combined. I am not optimistic because I hope to recoup inputs. 

I am optimistic because I see some of the people who stuck it out through the bear market risking their collateral on Steem doing well here, developers developing, the bidbot market evolving and random people getting attention on their work. I am optimistic because the staked Steem is slowly climbing and I believe it is because people are finally or again seeing the value in ownership of Steem through the ownership of STEEM. 

While I am optimistic, I also understand the risks and know that I am willing to take them. I don't mind if others sell because they are not or because their ROI isn't high enough, that is on their shoulders or a weight off their back, whichever the case may be. 

If I am right though, I will have worked my way toward an independence I do not think that I could get at this level in any other way available to me with *so little risk and exposure* and, there will be others standing with me who risked, worked, delayed and benefitted also. 

How many at that point will say "I didn't know that..."

I see the distribution of Steem now leaning more heavily toward those who chose to stick it out, not those who sold. However those who sold should have taken profits so that means they should be able to buy back in for free. This is the problem with many sellers though, they take their profits and spend them thinking they have delayed their gratification long enough, without realising it was just the first round. 

I can't know if I am right, but if I am, will you wish you had a little more Steem in your wallet, or glad you sold at the *last* high?


Taraz
[a Steem original ]

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