I went through that myself. I felt that same sort of frustration and anger early on, especially because some of my early posts really scored big and garnered some awesome attention. The same thing happened after all the excitement of HF19 died down. I went from average $20+ to about $10. On the other hand, I've become more engaged with others and spent more of my time curating and building relationships with people than I did before.
In large part, I have you to thank for that. You were one of the first people that reached out to me and really gave me a hand. You were the first real friend I made here, and, along with @gonzo and @kryptik, you kept me going and kept me honest with myself and my work. I'm extremely happy you returned, and boy did you return! You came back with a vengeance (to borrow your phrase :D). I'm glad you're here with me again, brother. I have no doubt you're going to make Steemit exactly what you want it to be.
Just don't forget about me when you're a whale and I'm still piddling around in the shallows!
Thank you, brother! The way things are going, I'll be a whale the same time you would, so I'm happy to be side-by-side with you in that journey. I'm sure we'll be whales the same time most of the minnows now become whales. But, the thought of Steemit being a primary source of income is well worth the wait.
I'm glad that I had that effect on you, as it's what I intend with every comment I leave. When I returned, I didn't want to create tiny ripples, I wanted to make tsunamis. Even though that wasn't what I accomplished, I can't complain with the steady progress I've made. I only increased 4 rep ever since I returned, so yeah haha!