Reaching milestones and attaining results from our hard work always feels good.

Steemit is no exception. It feels great to watch your reputation score and steem power rise. It is especially rewarding if you were like me and almost gave up on Steemit in the past. Like many new users, I poured out my heart into some of my posts and got little attention for it. I was very disappointed at first, but I learned to press on and find enjoyment in seeing how many people upvoted my posts and replied, rather than look at the dollar value of the posts.

Since my personal finances have been tumultuous this year, I have not been able to power up my account as aggressively as many other users have. Every bit of Steem I have acquired has come from relentlessly posting my own content and curating others' work. And even doing that has been challenging, as I work long hours at my job and have a wife and two young boys who want my time and attention. I get up each morning at 4 to have quiet time for reading Scripture, praying, and then Steeming.

My short-term goal on Steemit is to attain a reputation score of 60 and a minimum of 1,000 steem power.

I am very close to achieving this. But I don't intend to stop there. Looking long-term, I would really like to see my reputation at 70 with 10,000 steem power backing me up, much like @papa-pepper, who recently celebrated that achievement. He is an iconic figure on Steemit who does an awesome job on his posts, and is great at engaging with his audience.

As I continue to Steem into the future, I must always remember who helped me get where I am. Thank you @tinyhomeliving for introducing me to Steemit and giving me a tutorial. Thank you to @blocktrades for upvoting some of my early posts and giving me a major boost. Thank you @papa-pepper for the endless inspiration. And thank you to each and everyone who has read my posts, enjoyed them, and then upvoted them. There are too many of you to mention. You have all contributed to the value of Steemit and kept my morale up.

Keep Steeming, friends! Be persistent, be creative, and be yourself. And most importantly, be thankful for what you have.