I have particularly seen how since I joined Steemit 20 or 21 months ago, how the value of the currency has decreased and how they are changing their way of payment. Previously it was paid in SBD, because the Steem had little value. Then you could change from Steem to SBD and vice versa. Now SBD is no longer a redeemable token.
I have also seen how people like me, that our content is varied in literature (poems, life tips, tutorials, stories, etc.) and that we strive to take care of our presentation in each post, either by a text centered and justified, an impeccable spelling and some attractive presentations to the reader (it is worth saying that in my beginnings, many people with more time and experience than me, advised me that it was the most important thing to grow), I did not receive little support, perhaps because I am not a friend of any whale, because I saw other publications with misspellings, poor presentation, did not cite correctly the sources and their post were always in trend.
That disappoints even the most animated and enthusiastic person.
After all this, I learned to love what I do inside Steemit, not to take it as work, but as a hobby.
I know it's not the theme you're playing in this post, but when we talk about continuing to persevere and create content, despite feeling disappointed, I give you the reason: We must continue, not die in the attempt. To draw hope from the depths of our emotions and move on.
You hit exactly on the lesson I wanted to present. We need not rely on whales for their votes, but instead, we produce fun and exciting content and get to know others who are also doing what they love here on Steemit. When our following grows, we will see the rewards. In the end, we will be able to sell some of our earnings when the time is right, re-buy when the price is low (hint hint).