Once again, I just wanted to thank you Michael for coming to Adversity University to be interviewed. I enjoyed connecting with you a bit deeper and look forward to whatever collaboration we might end up doing in the future.

I’m glad you enjoyed the interview. I was inspired too!

I wanted to chime in and comment on how making connections is so important. A friend challenged me to look at how I might be making a difference and after thinking about it for a bit, I realized I was a “connector.” What’s funny about that though, is that I seem to do a better job connecting people online rather than in person in the local community. I find that intriguing.

But being a connector is a great way to knit together the fabric of like-minded people who, together, can make a huge impact.

“My parents’ love and encouragement, tutors, teachers, sports coaches and mentors who encouraged me helped me learn and grow in ability, knowledge, wisdom and confidence. I could never have done it alone. Once again, connections made the difference.”

The 1928 Webster dictionary describes the word connect in this way:
To knit or link together.

It was that childhood knitting and linking that help to form the fabric of the man you are today !!!

Even if you don’t have children of your own, look at the value of reaching out to the children you know and just connecting with them. Not in a praise sense, but in just asking how things are in their lives. To have the attention of a caring adult is one of the most valuable things you can do for the little people in your life.

Thank you Stephen for this wonderful interview and a sincere thank you
to you Michael for your open and candid sharing.

xo xo
Deb-n-Ohio

I just posted on my blog at http://www.michaelleestallard.com/lessons-i-learned-from-stephen-hopsons-adversity-university about what I learned during my visit to Adversity University. It has been nice getting to know you, learning about your journey in life and how what you learned and accomplished applies to all of us. Thanks for generosity and for the great work you are doing to help others.

With best wishes,
Michael

It was my pleasure to interview you and I’m glad our community got to know you better. I salute you for what you are doing in the world of organizations to help their people make vitally needed connections.

Thanks for the compliment about me being a counselor. Hmmm…maybe I ought to go back to school for some sort of counseling degree? Hmmmm……

I love how this interview inspired you to offer something similiar to your organizational clients! Let me know how it goes.

You bet – hardship is really amazing because it can do one of two things. It will stunt your growth, causing you to recede into a corner or it will kick you in high gear, with determination to succeed against the odds.

I love how you remind me that everything is a matter of choice. This puts responsibility squarely back on our shoulders, should we choose to accept that philosophy.

Another thing I’d like to add is that everything that happens is defined by our perceptions. We all have a filter that categorizes and labels the things we do, see, hear, experience, etc. What’s “good” or “bad” is based on our perceptions. Amazing, when you really think about it.

Thank you for interviewing me. Your questions made me think and even helped me learn more about myself. You would make a great counselor! Just doing this interview with you made me think that it would be beneficial for organizations to do something similar to this with new employees and post the answers on their intranet employee profile. Of course, each employee would get to choose which questions they want to answer and to change their answers at any time. This could help people get to know one another. Thanks for triggering that idea.

I’m going to post a link to this interview and the idea of employee Q&A on my my blog.

All the best to you, my friend.

Michael