Nearly a year ago- about a few weeks from now, I will have my first steemit birthday. I still consider myself young compared to the rest of the community not just because of my chronological age but in my knowledge and life experiences. Writing something that have a potential to be read by people from all walks of life, from different cultures and nationalities was a pretty novelty for me. Today, as I get to have my day off, I am taking this opportunity to reflect on the things that I have learned from the community:

I made new friends

I never really expect to meet and maintain relationships with them. It went beyond making a comment over here and there. But we did. I get to know them more and, I get to chance to see things their way.

I get to express my opinions and everything else...........

I had always been told off as a child that I am very opinionated and that if I wanted to make friends or cultivate good relationships with others, I have to shut up most of the time. Why should I? I believe in authentic relationships. I tell it as I see it.

I get to be assertive

The feedback that I am constantly receiving lately was that, I am assertive. I think that I get to learn being assertive in our community. I can't really write or type things which will make me apologize a few days later, right? I get to learn to say things like this. I mean, uncomfortable things which contain these words: I think, I feel, I understand, I perceive.........

I get to earn crypto

I won't lie to you folks and say that the only motivation I get for joining steemit is I get to write at my heart's content. Earning cryptocurrency no matter how meager it is is great! It feels great that for someone who does not have a formal training or education in writing, I get paid doing it................IN CRYPTO!

Its great that most of the time, I am broke. Otherwise, I would have invested my money into all the tokens that seems to be cropping here and there. So please do me a favor, don't let me know if there are incoming tokens out there.

But seriously, when I look back on my first 11 months here in Steemit, it was great. I get to be in the dog house some of the time but, mostly, it was amazing! So what's the moral lesson of the day? Can we invite more fresh blood so we can all grow together?