Months ago, I powered down because I needed the cash. Now, I have regrets.
Months ago I hit a rough patch, well a rougher patch and had to power down. Now, I regret it.
I have illustrated this regret with the following comic:
I don't know if I can say I regret it as I used the money to pay rent and eat and had no money coming in because of my disability but, man oh man, seeing my friends who started with me with insane account values and a friend who started before me with mind-boggling account values sure does make me feel the same sort of pain you feel if you recall seeing bitcoin on it's way up and ignored it and then later realize you could be rolling in cash.
Seriously, with the recent surge in steem value and considering almost a year ago my account was worth $4,000. Holy crap, how much would that be now? How does one shake the ragrets? I found out when I was a kid that my grandmother had been playing the same numbers in the lottery every day for like 30 years and one day decided to switch it up. She didn't get a back up. Her previous numbers won the jackpot. She had a mental breakdown. Called my mom sobbing inconsolably. That is kinda how I feel right now.
I am happy for my friends and everyone here who worked their asses off sharing great content and is now a minnow don't get me wrong. I just know that my $4,000 would be a lot more than that now if I had stayed in and it stings. I guess I am giving a cautionary story in case anyone is debating powering down. I know some of us need to power down but unless you legitimately need it and you will be royally screwed if you don't take the cash out then please, leave it there. Watch it grow before your eyes and then roll around in all the steem later so I can glare at you from afar while simultaneously being happy for you.
It's not over tho. Steemit is growing and new steem can be made.
I don't want to sound like I am saying if you cash out you should just leave, show's over. That is clearly anything but the case. I wouldn't be aggressively recruiting my friends to the platform if I thought they couldn't make a real investment with their time and energy. And the fact that I was at $75 account value about a month ago and am back over $800 now just goes to show you can make a fresh start. We all have our ragrets but we can learn from them. If you are a dummy like me don't despair. Grab a seat, pull out a hypothetical pencil, and write some great content!
Plenty of time to accumulate more steem, this ship is just getting started. So many interesting projects popping up here revolving around steem, only one has to be a hit for the value to go absolutely through the roof. It doesn't even need to be steemit, which is the crazy part.
Just get back at it, and try to hold on a bit tighter this time around :)
Also, there is no shame in paying your rent and eating food. Living is more important then financial gains.
Yes that's why I ended it on a positive note. I know there is more steem to be had. I will probably partially power down at some point because I desperately need to get a new PC but I will wait until I have accumulated a lot more wealth.
And yes, I know you are right. I did need it at the time. :) But the "what if" hurts a little. hehe
Is there a way I can directly send you a little steem on here? I'm new too. Don't get too excited, it won't be much because I don't have much LOL - but at least enough for a fast food meal in the US ;-)
haha there is a way to transfer funds in the wallet but don't worry about it. :) Invest that into your steem account. :D
I had 5 bitcoins 1.5 months ago and sold at 1.25k. That's only 6 weeks ago! My brother had a gambling problem and said it was life or death so I sold all my crypto to help him. He took it straight to the casino.......I started over and now have 1.5 btc. I know the feeling.
the what if's will always haunt you. let it go. It is the past now. So look forward to rebuilding your empire (smiles) and be happy that you had that available to you when you needed it. Many are not that blessed. xoxo Jess
Im also taking this advise for myself :)
Me too :)
Sorry to hear that. As a consolation prize I've given you a full powered upvote.
Your awesome @neoxian
Aw gee, thanks! I can't believe how well this post did. I made the comic and ranted my woes and then went to dye my hair and came back to many people relating and all these upvotes. :O
The community is here to help us :)
Upvote and resteemed. I know a lot of people who feel like you.
This is always the case with crypto. I wish I had bought when I first heard of Bitcoin in July 2011.
I wish I had bought Ethereum when I first heard of it, the very day it was announced. I wish I had posted more on Steemit when I was there in May because I was here everyday but not posting every day.
Sure my account is worth a lot today and it's changing my life but boy o boy I could be lot richer but what if this is part of the problem.
I love this quote from on of Dan Larimer's post. It's one of my favorite post.
Keep your head up Laura and if everything goes well Steem and cryptocurrency might very well bring about a new kind of world. And don't forget, your "loss" are someone else gain.
Why do we fight to change the world?
Thanks for linking me to that post! I hadn't read it and I love it.
And thank you for the resteem and upvote. It is clear many people feel the way I do and you are right. It is always going the be the case. I am just now starting to get into crypto currency really and still learning so much. I want to start trading eventually so I better get used to let downs, bad timing, regrets, but also gains. :)
At this point I would recommend you concentrate on Steem rather than trading but I could be wrong.
A lot of crypto trading on exchanges is done by bots buying and selling automatically without the decision of human besides a couple parameters. These plus other fundamental make crypto trading super complex and up to now I mostly have done bad trade except keeping my Bitcoin and selling my Steem and getting back with around 4,000$ when they were at around 10 cents.
Take care Laura!
You can do it! I cashed out like 10,000 a year ago, And I regret it too! You just have to work extra hard to build up your account. I also had to cash out a small amount to pay down some debt. Sometimes things come up in life :) It's understandable! Maybe you can write a couple extra posts this week to make up for it. And I'll be here to give you my votes!
Sold my bitcoins at 200$, so i know how you feel.....
omg, that is.....so sad. :(
sending cyber hugs...I mean who needs $150 million when you have strangers sending love, right ;-)
I did.
I started powering down in February because I had a lot of expenses coming up (taxes + moving + some debt that needed paid). I sold the vast majority of my Steem (~75%), not because I wanted to, but because I didn't have anywhere else to turn.
I don't regret it though, I didn't have a choice. That's how I choose to look at it. I do cringe a little bit when I think what it would have been worth though, but like you said, you can always "mine" some more by writing some posts :)
Yeah, that's why I can't quite really say I regret it. Because really, I had no choice and the alternative would be much worse. So yeah, it's just a cringe factor when thinking of where I would be if it were different. :) We are both still here though! :D
Me too. Even if I feel so stupid for what I did but I could not afford to regret for it because the money were use to sustain the needs of my family.
Only partial regrets I hope !
You needed to move out of state, that was not cheap, and I'm glad that you successfully used Steemit for that purpose.
I have no doubts that you will get back where you were and beyond, just keep making art, posting on Steemit, and selling books & shirts like you do.
Rock on @lauralemons ^_^
Thanks. :) No books for sale atm but I am working on some.
And you are right. I need to remember that I really did need that money. haha Like, that funded my move and furnished this place and put food on the table for like 6 months. :) Better than if I had been dicking around on facebook or reddit all day.
So sorry to hear of your regrets. There's plenty of time to do well with Steemit as we are early to the game. You are never defeated until you decide you are!
Oh, I am not stopping. Like I said in the end of the blog I know it's still fresh out here and a good time to get started! :D Just a bit of a "aw man" feelings. hehe Regret is the wrong word because I really had to do it so no way to regret it. :)
Don't worry, you are not alone. Me too, I powered down few months ago due to financial constraints. The company where I was working is about to close and we have not receiving our salaries on-time. Aside from that, we are not receiving what is due to use to less profit. Sometimes its 1/4 or 1/8 of salary and being a family man, its not enough to sustain the needs of my family.
When steem reaches a $1 price, its makes me feel so stupid, how stupid I was. So sad. But, still we have so much time to recover everything and even more than what we used to have. We have the community to help everybody.
Following you.
I agree. This is definitely not the end. I love it here and like I mentioned I wouldn't be telling people "NOW IS A GREAT TIME TO JOOOOOIN!!!" if I didn't really believe it! :D
Sorry to hear you are in the same boat though.
:) no regrets
Well now you are earning again! Remember, this is the early stages. Powering down was a risk you took. It could have just as easily faded away, or went into a huge slump. These things happen with investments where prices fluctuate. My rule for Steemit, is I will cash out Steem or SBD, but I'm leaving my Steem Power alone. One day, if and when Steemit is more mainstream, even little dolphins and minnows will be seen as whales. So Steem Power is an investment into the future of the platform, my influence on the platform, and eventually the financial payoff should I ever power down.
I can't say I won't end up needing to power down partially in the future as I likely will but I will avoid ever COMPLETELY powering down. I will always keep one leg in even if I get desperate. :) And you are right, we are still in the beginning phases! There are much greater heights to go to!