This is how I found out Obama won the election while in London (November 2008)!

Thank you for your interest in learning more about me and Adversity University.   (Photo taken while I was in the tube in London November 2008).

I’m Stephen Hopson and a former Wall Street stockbroker turned inspirational speaker, author and pilot.   This blog was started over at Blogger.com in April 2006 because I wanted to find a way to share my personal experiences in dealing with and overcoming adversity through stories, observations and tips.   But things have changed since then.

It got to the point where I was itching to expand and touch on other topics, in essence transforming Adversity University into a unique personal development site, so I decided to move over to Wordpress in October 07 and have been here ever since.

Adversity University is obviously a play on words but it is intended to cover a broad range of topics dear to my heart including some of my 30 day experiments (mostly having to do with diets), my raw food journey, the Law of Attraction, Positive Thinking, Gratitude, Tithing, Relationship Building, Blogging and many other topics.

I also tried my hand in making video posts with subtitles while experimenting with different video cameras but then took them all back to the store because I wasn’t satisfied with them.    It is my intention to return to making them because it reveals more of who I am to you, the reader/viewer.   The longer I blog, the more fearless I become in peeling back the layers and one way of doing that is by videotaping myself.   Videos do not lie.   My goal is to be as authentic as I can possibly be and you can’t get any more revealing than appearing on video!

This blog presents a unique opportunity for you to see through the lens of a person with a hearing disability.   Profoundly deaf since birth, I’ve certainly had my share of adversity, learning a lot of lessons along the way.   Because of my outlook on spirituality, all of my writings have spirituality incorporated in them.   About half of the posts in here are in the form of short stories, which will be turned into an e-book (and eventually a hard cover copy).   The rest of them are a collection of observations, tips and spiritual thoughts based on my own life’s experiences.

I named this blog “Adversity University” because no one is immune from adversity.   But I realize it could be misleading because when people see the title of this blog, they’re probably thinking this place is all about hardship and how life is difficult.   A “woe-is-me” kind of thing.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

It’s about how I’ve learned how to take responsibility for my life when dealing with adversity.    I’ve been to the school of “hard knocks” and want to pass along my life lessons to you.   You will find this to be a safe place to commune with others while getting your share of inspirational, uplifting and encouraging messages from not only myself but others in the community who share their insights with us.   You’ll find this to be a very active community.   I count myself lucky to be among bloggers whose comment sections are buzzing with activity.   I thank God for that.   I thank YOU for that - it’s what keeps me going as a blogger.   The amount of love I get from my readers is incredible.   Pick any article and read the comments and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Adversity is the one thread that truly connects every single person on this planet.   How they are living their life is largely based on their perception of what happens to them and what they do about it.   This blog is my attempt to impart some of those lessons.

I’m excited to say that the blog has been growing steadily since 2006, gaining a reputation for attracting those who are truly interested in taking themselves to the next level.   I’m attracting like-minded people, not those who waste their time attacking others because they have nothing better to do.   That’s because when I first created this space, I set an intention to create a place where ALL PEOPLE are welcome, regardless of their political affiliations, religious or non-religious status, spirituality, sexual orientation, economic status, age, martial status, addictions, nationality, color, disability, etc.

The door is never shut at Adversity University.   NEVER.

While I humorously call myself the “Professor of Adversity,” (it does have a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?) I don’t profess to know everything because life is about continual learning. All I can do is write from the heart.   What more could I ask of myself?  What more could God want from me?

After 15 years on Wall Street, I had a moment of epiphany and quit in the late 1990’s to follow my dream of becoming a motivational speaker. You can see that story at “Trust That Bigger Things are in Store for You - The Beach.”

Here’s a 10 minute speaking demo tape if you’re interested in a visual presentation of some of the things I’ve done in life:

If you are a meeting or event planner (or know of one) and are looking for a unique inspirational speaker who speaks from the heart with real-life stories, please visit www.sjhopson.com to learn more about how you can hire me for your event.

In a nutshell, the intent of this blog is to entertain, inform and provoke thought without being cheesy or contrived. My goal is to help transform the way people perceive life and how they can overcome obstacles, to achieve their dreams through the use of my own experiences.

I can be reached through the contact form, Twitter and Facebook.

So, once again, let me invite you to become part of Adversity University and subscribe via Email or RSS feed. You’ll be glad you did!

If you liked this post and you want to be notified of the next one, subscribe via Email or Full Text RSS Feed. I would love to have you as part of the community!

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