I did the same, it was on purpose but still, getting it back was hard. I already have the bar to determine with how much SP I vote so I am making good use of that 20% daily :D

Yes! You might think you are losing your time, reading a bunch of posts and only giving 15 cents but really, making a habit out of it will pay off in the future and you might end up with some hidden treasures in your hands, there is a lot of underrated content out there.