Gratitude is an attitude that hooks us up to our source of supply.  And the more grateful you are, the closer you become to your maker, to the architect of the universe, to the spiritual core of your being.  It’s a phenomenal lesson.  Bob Proctor (The Secret, Law of Attraction)

I meant to post this last week but didn’t because of the latest car fender bender story that just had to be put up in its entirety.   As you’re about to see, I’m back to breaking things down into sub-headings this week.

Time Saving Blog Tips

Time Saving Tip #1:  Thanks to Wendy Piersall and Lorelle VanFossen, I was led to two excellent time-saving tools for this blog.  You may have noticed that at times I am hit with a nice handful of comments.  Since I enjoy giving personal attention to each and every one of them, when things get hectic, they tend pile up, turning this into a huge labor intensive task.  In order to respond individually, I have been forced to go back and forth between the WordPress Administration Panel and the comment section so that I could keep track of who I just responded to.  You can imagine how time consuming that can be.

Well, no more.  If you use Firefox as your browser and you have a WordPress blog, you’ll be able to download Comment Ninja which allows you to respond to each comment without ever leaving your blog administration page.  It is not a plug-in; rather, it’s a script that works with your Firefox browser.

Word of warning:  Do not go “experimenting” with other the scripts unless you’re absolutely 100 percent positive they are safe to install.  I trusted Wendy and Lorelle about Comment Ninja and Askimet Auntie Spam (below) and because of that, I fearlessly downloaded both scripts with fantastic results.

Time Saving Tip #2: While Askimet does a great job combating comment spam, I haven’t had much time to keep up with the task of wading through each of them to ensure legit comments were not snatched up by the jaws of Askimet.  I was spending several minutes a day on this task alone.

It got to the point where I began hitting the “Delete ALL” button, feeling guilty about possibly deleting some legitimate comments in there.

Once again, no more!  If you use Firefox and have a WordPress blog, you can download Akismet Auntie Spam.  This script compresses spam comments into one-liners, making it easier to see 15 to 20 spam comments per page rather than 3 to 5.  A tremendous time saver!

Thanks again Wendy and Lorelle.  You girls certainly know what you’re talking about!

Another Keynote Speaking Engagement

A few weeks ago, i announced in a gratitude post that Penn State booked me for 3 speaking events in the Fall (back-to-back talks over a 2 day period).

Not long after that, Frito-Lay, a division of Pepisco, hired me for a keynote engagement taking place a month following the Penn State gig.  (Photo/Image Credit:  nbrier)

Thank you God!  The universe continues to conspire to bless me in unexpected ways.  Sometimes speaking clients find me on the Internet.  Other times, a fan or a friend will send someone an email letting them know about me, which may or may not get passed around.  Other times people find out about me via word of mouth.  I am usually not aware of most of the activity taking place until I am in contact with a client who tells me about it.

Karen Putz, a long time fan and subscriber to Adversity University (not to mention a great friend – we got to know one another at SOBCon08 earlier this year), sent an email to someone at Pepisco.  After months of follow ups and not hearing back, we assumed this was not an open pathway for me at this time and forgot about it.

Practically the entire summer went by before I found this in my email box from a Frito-Lay meeting planner:

Several of us have seen your videos and we are very interested in having you come speak to us.  Would you be available on ……….?

At that moment, I smiled the ingenuity of the universe.  Its timing is always impeccable.  It is always “working behind the scenes” – which means NEVER EVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS EVEN IF NOTHING APPEARS TO BE HAPPENING ON THE SURFACE.

Theme Upgrade

Roughly 40% of you use Firefox when visiting Adversity University.  You may have noticed that the comment boxes were being cut off on the far right side.  The comment numbers were also being cut off once it went into the double digits (i.e. 10, 11, 12, etc).

Thanks to Lisa Sabin-Wilson, the theme for this blog recently underwent an overhaul and because of that, your comments have been restored to its pristine beauty.  (Note:  Apparently they were not behaving this way in Internet Explorer – go figure because I rarely use it because it became way too buggy with horribly slow load times).

First Akron/Cleveland/Canton Tweet-Up Meeting Next Week!

Are you using Twitter?  If you are, you can follow me here:  www.twitter.com/sjhopson     If you’re not familiar with it, Chris Brogan wrote an excellent Newbies Guide to Twitter.

After seeing hundreds of Tweet-ups taking place across the country this summer (Twitter networking events) , I thought to myself one day, “Hey, why not create one for Akron, OH?”  With that thought in mind, I immediately contacted Corey Hammond (a.k.a. CoreyHammond on Twitter) and asked if he’d be interested in co-hosting a Tweet-up with me.  His response was swift and enthusiastic.  We got together earlier this week for the first time and planned what we were going to say and do.  We’re both very excited about it!

Thanks goes to Corey for creating an RSVP page on Facebook for next week’s event.  All the information you need to know is there.  If you don’t have a Facebook account and you want to come, you can either sign up for Facebook and RSVP on that page or contact me directly for further details.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to connect with even more people and potentially increase the number of new friends.   It is a very exciting time for me.

Blackberry Debacle

Two nights ago, I was happily using my “Crackberry” when suddenly the trackball refused to scroll down.  I couldn’t believe it.  Confusion turned to anger and frustration.   How could a brand new Blackberry break down so quickly?  It was only two months old!

I got on the phone and tried to track down someone at Sprint to help me.  I told Twitter about it and many of them were sympathetic but invariably told me, “Yeah, good luck,” or “I wanted to tell you this might happen but……”

“Just *&^%$ wonderful,” I thought.

I also emailed a Sprint specialist who helped me get started with my first Blackberry.  He told me to contact someone in insurance, so I did (since I am covered).  But the phone number turned out to be a recording which made things way more impersonal than I wanted.  For crying out loud, I wanted a live human being to help me get through this little crisis!

To make matters worse, this recording cut off every time I failed to enter data in a timely manner (remember, I was using the relay operator to assist me with this call).  After being cut off three times, I hung up in exasperation,  feeling rather hot and bothered.

When someone messes up my ability to communicate with the rest of the world, I instantly transform into a warrior and go into battle.  Twitterverse stood by while I ranted and raved.

After a few hours of this, I realized how ridiculous I was behaving and noticed that I wasn’t exactly following my own advice of taking control of my emotions, especially in the heat of the moment.  I stepped outside, took a deep breath and told myself, “Alright, with the way things have been going lately, this, too, shall pass and I might even experience a wonderful outcome.”

In a direct message, Twitterer Ruth Marie Sylte (a.k.a. rmsylte) wrote:  “Oh dear Stephen — despite what you are experiencing now, it is STILL a day of incredible possibilities ahead!  Rejoice in that!  ”

I took her advice (and my self-talk) to heart.  I actually believed that there was the possibility of things turning around – it wasn’t some empty, happy-lucky-go affirmation.

And you know what?

It did turn around – rather dramatically, I might add!

A manager up the rungs at Sprint advised me to visit a local Sprint store and tell them I wanted a new one.  That’s exactly what I did but I have to admit that I went in there with a bit of trepidation after reading about horrible customer service stories that seem to be so prevalent these days.

The universe must have aligned all the stars for me the moment I walked in because not only did I get the nicest, most cheerful customer service rep, but I was also given a receipt to come back in a few days to pick up my brand new Blackberry!  The extra $7 a month for insurance turned out to be well worth the investment.  Update:  I picked up the new unit yesterday (Friday) – back to normal again!

WOOT!

In retrospect, I may have been a bit too harsh on Sprint/Blackberry when I first ranted and raved about them on Twitter.  Sorry about that guys.  I’m at peace now and hope you are too.  Wink, wink.

*red faced*

Food for thought:  Cultivating the attitude of gratitude does what for you?

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