Yes, SteemPower is super important... and indeed, it is really important to take a long-term perspective here. I always advise people to treat the SP part of their account as a kind of long term savings plan that they can build but not touch.

In the meantime — as you build your balance — you become increasingly able to help fellow Steemians on their way with your upvotes. I'm particularly excited about the current higher prices of the Steem token because it has once again become viable to upvote worthy comments!

Edited to add: And yes, @steemchiller's SteemWorld tool is one of the best things we have around here, if you really want to understand what's going on with your account!