I WAS BORN TO DO THIS

When I was in secondary school (SS2 precisely), we were asked by our English teacher to write an essay. Though the topic has gone into the oblivion of my mind, I still recall the perplexity on Mr. Agboola's face when he called me to his office the next day. Immediately I walked into his office, the following conversation ensued:

"Who taught you how to write like that?"

• Noone Sire!

"I don't believe you my boy. I have never seen any student that writes like that without some form of coaching"

• I mean it sir. I just write what my mind tells me

"You must be a natural then! From now onwards, you will participate in every of this school's debate activities"

• Sir, I dont know how to talk but I can write it

"No! I disagree. If you can write it then you can say it. My decision is final"

I couldn't object any longer so I accepted to join the debate club. Once they bring any topic for debate, he will personally give it to me to 'develop'. He was always impressed by the quality of my works. So he decided that it was time for me to get on stage. Long and short of it is that I stuttered badly on stage. Infact, I helped my school loose that debate battle.

Looking back at that time, I laugh because right from then I had already known that I had incredible talent for writing. I started blogging a long time ago but I have always been that blogger with a lot of 'buts'. I have tried so many ideas and experimented with many concepts but none seemed to bloom. I don't have money to do Google Ads. I don't have the right place and structure to grow my blog from the tiny little cubicle in my mother's basement to somewhere more 'ventilated'. I felt clumsy. I felt breathless. I felt voiceless. Like one of those scary nightmares, I was talking but noone could hear me. No one could understand me. No one even tried. My idea sank into the ocean of uncertainties. My fire almost died.

At a point in time, I just completely forgot about blogging and moved on with my life. I completed my university education, came back to it with a new idea. This time around, I partnered with someone I met during my National Youth Service year. We setup a awesome website and started working seriously to build a dependable community of people who will love our works. I essentially sank in all the allowances I got from my service year into it. Then, as you may have guessed, it bombed again!

So you can imagine my joy when I found STEEMit. Now I can write exactly what I want. I can connect with the people I want. I can do all these without needing to add an extra penny from my earnings. All I just needed to do was be myself and upload useful content. Just like that I was making considerable progress.

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PEOPLE GENUINELY CARE HERE

The spirit of this community has never ceased to amaze me as I read more and more of the posts here. The members are truly supportive. And this is the only community where you get a heart-felt welcome when you join. They welcome you like they have known you all their lives.

When I joined Facebook, noone welcomed me not until I started connecting with my real-life friends did I get a sense of community. But here its the other way around. You start out as distant online acquintances, then friends, then maybe you might even bridge that gap and become real-life buddies

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MINIMAL SPAMMING, TROLLING, SCAMMING OR ONLINE ABUSE

Everyone knows that their reputation is at stake for anything that they do. Everyone knows that they need to keep making themselves better. Everyone knows the ideology of the community. And considering the amount of time it takes to be confirmed (apprx 1 week for me), everyone knows better than to waste such a wonderful opportunity a self-expression.

So consciously and unconsciously, people here are abiding by some written and unwritten community rules. Everything you do leaves a footprint on the sands of this blockchain. I can understand why spammers, scammers and abusers are keeping far off.

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REAL PEOPLE THAT SHOW YOU THEIR 'PROOF OF LIFE'

The internet has been causing a persistent decline in trust-worthiness. For example, a random stranger whose name is @garybar1m on Twitter has no reason to tell me to send him money or request a business with me unless we can meet up physically.

Meanwhile, because of the blockchain-based nature of this network, we can execute smart contracts and force each other to trust each other. We earn the trust through positive community participation and rewards system. I bring value to earn a reputation for good deed. You curate my valuable content and get a percentage of my post's earnings. Its favourable for everyone.

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YOU GET UPVOTED TO THE MOON!

On Facebook its called likes. On Twitter and Intagram its called Love. But here its called UPVOTING. I have learned that when you see a post that's 'Gold', you should give more people the chance to experience it by upvoting it. Each upvote earns you SBD which is the Dollar equivalent on the Steem Blockchain. You can then use your dollar to Power-up.

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TIME IS THE ONE TRUE CURRENCY

I have learned to take things easy on this platform. I have learned that its one day at a time. Like William Shakespare once said "Life is a stage." Gently ascend this ladded of personal freedom as you seek your life goals. This Rome will not be built in a day. Never!

I have already decided that I will never be a run-away Steemian. Rather I am in this for the long haul. I am in this to express my thoughts. I am in this to execute my complex psycho-analytical mind. I am here to be me. I won't lie to you. It has been a range of emotions. Sometimes I feel really bad when I put in a whole day researching and posting something really awesome only to get few upvotes. It could be discouraging but I always find joy in counting my blessings. Sometimes I post and get some SBD effortlessly too. I think it helps to humble me. I also remember to remind myself that EVERY WHALE WAS ONCE A MINNOW! I know I will get there. This is a really unique opportunity for personal development at no costs at all. So in conclusion, I'm all in!

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Thanks for your upvotes and comments. You are very much appreciated. FOLLOW HERE!

Special Thanks to @surpassinggoogle for the #untalented initiative.
Remain awesome #Skadush!