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DRUM ROLLS please! It is my 100th Day on Steemit today!!!

This calls for a big celebration, and a long post from me. Although this celebration is not as glamorous as having 1000 followers, it is still something worth to celebrate, well at least for me. I embarked on this wonderful journey in December 2017, pretty much after my birthday after a quick, fascinating introduction about Steemit. All that I remembered from the conversation was, "You just need to write and keep on writing, and you will get paid for it eventually, in small or big amounts." My initial thoughts were like, "How can this sh-t be true?! I have been writing tonnes of lesson plans, school projects, and other writings - but never been paid in this manner."

So, I was really, really intrigued by the idea of Steemit, and decided to sign up and create an account. I was told that it may take days or weeks to get approval from the Steemit team, but it wasn't so for my case. My account was approved within hours, and that was one big surprise for me. I went ahead and started exploring things here and there, clicking different tabs and checking out some blog posts. On top of that, I was warned to keep all sorts of keys and passwords, and guard it with my life! My first #introducemyself post was drafted and posted, and to my amazement, I saw several strangers clicking like (eventually I found out that it is called upvote), and even commenting on my post. Mmm, I thought to myself, things were getting really, really interesting.

...and it went crazier from there on. I started submitting the pictures I took for different photography contests by @juliank, @photocontests, and @howtostartablog... AND my pictures were featured... AND there were new additions to my wallet! I've got a little creative with my post and did it based on the alphabetical pattern, and the votes and comments kept coming in. For some really rare occasions, my post was nominated, featured and/or upvoted by @ocd and @curie team. Moreover, I was finally introduced to another chat platform called Discord, and I found myself in my first three chat groups namely #steemitbloggers by @jaynie, #teammalaysia, and #steemiteducation. Oh gosh, I remembered how shocking it was, waking up to the amount of chat notifications in these groups everyday!

So, how has Steemit changed me?

I have seen and read several posts on Steemit platform about how Steemit has changed their lives, and boy, it has been amazing reading different life experiences. Are you ready to hear mine? Buckle down, and here you go!

Photo by Jordan McQueen on Unsplash

Every picture counts, seriously

I am a big fan of taking pictures for many years, but never once that ever crossed my mind would be to take it another level of diligence. I don't know about you, but I felt (am still feeling it) like I am a guard dog, just watching out for opportunities to take pictures, on top of the regular must-haves before eating, and while on vacation trips. Knowing the fact that I may just have that edge of getting paid for the amateur pictures that I take made me super attentive to my surroundings.

Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.
~ quoted by Dorothea Lange

What I enjoy the most with taking pictures is the part where I get to document my life moments, and be reminded of them. It is just the beauty of capturing few shots from our own life scene for a lifetime impact and remembrance, just as perfectly described in the quote above. It conveys a deep message to the photographer, and how these little moments, good and bad, fashion the person he/she is today.

You and I, we have seen some really amazing photographs here on Steemit. For some of these photographers, it is their utmost passion in life. I love to scroll my Facebook and Instagram news feed for new inspirations to build my "eyes" in taking pictures. Now, with Steemit platform, I have a bigger exposure to the world of photography.

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Long hours of drafting, posting, reading, upvoting and commenting

I am not an amazing writer and reader, but Steemit has forced me out of my regular schedule to invest hours and hours creating contents for my small number of followers. I am sure that by now, you would know that I am a teacher. My job requires me to do a lot of writing and reading on a daily basis, and on certain peak periods, I've gotta start writing my report cards. Additionally, I have to update my class blog on a weekly basis, send updates back home to parents everyday, complete my lesson plans and reflections, and other school-related documents. A glimpse into all of these often discourage me to write and read more after my working hours, but here I am on Steemit, writing a super long post. I do occasionally take some days off Steemit, because of teacher fatigue.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.
~ quoted by Benjamin Franklin

It was only in the recent weeks that I began to realize that I need to find that ideal balance in my schedule without discarding Steemit. I have decided that I will create contents that I am glad to share with my followers here, at least four times a week, and with at least one of them as a long written post. It seemed like a pretty ambitious goal for me, but I am going for it! On the days that I am not posting anything, rest assured that I will continue to give away my upvotes and comments generously.

As I take things a little slower on Steemit, it became even more significant for me to draft and create quality contents worth sharing and reading. I am genuinely inspired by the essence of the quote above, to just fully utilize all possible chances of writing and un-writing. The process of writing begins with one single inspiration, don't you think so? It takes only one to branch out to a whole spread of awesomeness. Just a funny thought to share, if writing is a form of fitness, we will all be super muscular and fit, ready to take on Mount Everest anytime. HAHAHA!

Besides that, spending long hours reading different types of Steemit posts especially those that are tagged with #motivation, #inspiration, #life, #education, #makemesmile, and #powerofpositivity has been truly encouraging. Some of my favourite go-tos are @maverickfoo, @happycrazycon, @iamjadeline, @alvinauh, @deborism, and several other Steemit bloggers. Oh, not forgetting those awesome posts about #food, #howto, and #travel too! I know I am still missing out on many other quality contents out there on Steemit (other than checking out posts featured on @appreciator). If you have recommendations for me, please let me know in the comments below!

p/s: I absolutely salute many of you who have been consistently posting contents every single day without failing, despite your busy schedules.

Photo by Matthew Guay on Unsplash

Keeping up with Steemit lingo, updates and events

Remember the endless chat notifications on Discord that I was talking about? That surely is one of the many ways how I build my Steemit dictionary. To be honest, I have a lot more to learn about Steemit lingo and trends. I was finally introduced to @ginabot about a week ago, and how I wish I was told about this fabulous bot from Day 1. Yes, one week ago, please slap me for being so slow, like a sloth.

Your life only gets better when you get better, and you can improve yourself without limit. Learn something new every day.
~ quoted by Brian Tracy

I am absolutely amazed at how different communities here on Steemit have encouraged learning and impacting lives through events like meet-ups, workshops, and other community-based events. These events and updates predominantly will then be written into Steemit posts to benefit other bloggers too! I, for one, am benefited from reading these posts because it helps me improve and be more aware of the Steemit lingo and trends. Some areas of knowledge and skills are transferable too. Through these posts, everyone has a fair share to learn something new every day, and all that we need to do is to get connected to the right niche.

Photo by Matt Collamer on Unsplash

Connecting with real people for real causes

This has to be my favourite one of all. I believed I have mentioned in my 5 loves, 5 dislikes post, that I love to give, and giving it generously. Since that specific revelation, I have been seeking opportunities to be a bigger cheerleader and supporter to the people around me. Even when sometimes it will cause my personal expenses, I am challenging myself to move into purposeful givings based on the leading of that very special Voice in me.

There is something about being in the right place not just any place, with the right people not just any people, doing the right thing not just anything.
~ quoted by Kris Vallotton

Steemit platform has offered valuable opportunities for me to play a little role in supporting real causes. Windows of benevolence and philanthropy can be found here, and even with a simple transfer from your Steemit wallet to their Steemit wallet, it can be life-changing for them. Of course, we are ought to be sure of what are getting ourselves into, and that is when connecting with real people truly matters. Steemit's element of transparency helps us to gauge our decisions before making these important decisions.

Right time, right place, right people, and right thing. Such a simple principle to live by. Throughout my journey here on Steemit, I have made new friends that I have yet to meet, especially from #teammalaysia and #steemitbloggers. Hours of chatting, reading and commenting even without meeting in person yet?! That is absolutely insane. I mean, come on, if the world has a lot more of these awesome vibes, ain't it going to be a better place for all of us? No doubt we will still have the not-so-awesome vibes around (even on Steemit, duh), but then again, our light shines the brightest in the darkness hey!

Thank you for reading my post today! Hope you liked it :)

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