I haven't done a milestone post in a while but I am so happy and proud of finally hitting quite a few milestones that it's time to stop and reflect on my time here at Steemit.

Yesterday time passed by as slow as possible. My reputation score was 59.5 when I woke up in the morning and I was determined to reach the final steps over the finish line to reach 60. It wasn't easy. I made a few posts and read/commented as much as I could hoping to get there but by around 11:00 pm I was only at 59.988.

This Number Drove Me Crazy All Day

At midnight I made one last post hoping for glory and hit...59.997....AHHH!!

It was like New Years Eve when you stay up to watch the ball drop only for it to get stuck.

At This Point I Gave Up And Decided To Go To Bed

Checking One Last Time Before Bed I Finally Hit 60

Yessss!!!! Relief from my tortured day of wanting to see the moment my score changed.

Plenty of time to reflect.

Yesterday was a good day to think about how hard and how much work it is to raise your reputation score. I hit 59 a while back and it was a very slow climb to the 60 mark. It's not easy to be successful here at Steemit. You have to work hard, produce good content, and be an active member of the community. You don't magically get a higher reputation. You have to earn it. I know going forward the milestone reputation score is going to be harder to reach and is going to take much longer than my climb from 59 to 60.

I Came Here To Have Fun Writing

I started here 148 days ago in April. I have been part of communities like Steemit in the past so coming in I knew my goal was to interact. I did come here for the idea of getting paid for posts but I also came here for the people. Knowing how much fun you can have interacting with people from communities like Steemit I hoped to meet some great friends who I'd love visiting and hearing from every day.

And I did. It was hard to find them through a sea of spammers and people posting low quality content but I did it. I am proud to say I've made a number of friends who I love reading their work and hearing from them in comments. I joined a few discord channels and chat regularly with some of these friends. It's a very unique place this Steemit.

Focus More On Enjoying The Community Than The Milestones

Now that I know it's going to take forever to reach 61 I'm not looking at my score anymore. I powered up like crazy and hit my milestone of 1000 Steem Power so I've stopped checking my SP. I've made 365 posts since April and 2360 comments but I stopped paying attention to quantity after the first 100 milestone. The next big milestones are very far away. I'm going to focus on having fun writing and interacting with my friends here.

I'm polishing off my first short story that I've worked on in a while. I had a lot of fun writing it and will post it later today. I've got a second story nearing completion. It's time to have fun and enjoy writing. I hope all my friends are having having fun too!

Thank you to all my friends who visit my posts and read them and comment.

You are the best thing about this place and I come back everyday for all of you! Thank you for helping me reach 60 and I hope to see you all reach your goals and succeed here.