For as long as I can remember, especially after I discovered my spiritual journey in the mid-nineties (I was still on Wall Street but it would be a few years later I would receive the divine calling to pursue my dreams of becoming an inspirational speaker, author and eventually pilot), I’ve been fascinated with the concept of guardian angels.

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(Continued from Week 1)

I’m starting to think perhaps I should have titled these follow-up posts with “How I MIGHT Lose 20 lbs. in 30 Days…….” (Photo: Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie)

This morning (Sunday) I woke up an hour later than normal and for the first time since starting the “Tim Ferris Diet” almost 2 weeks ago, I absolutely, positively did not feel like cooking!

Almost as if I wanted to prolong the inevitable, I started by making a pot of coffee.  Then like a mischievous child, my eyes involuntarily  rolled over to the cabinet where I kept a box of cereal.  I felt a lurch in my stomach.

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Sometimes the inspiration to write comes out of left field, hitting me with a sudden urge to let my fingers fly across the keyboard.  It strikes without warning, usually early in the mornings, especially when responding to emails.  I don’t know why but there’s something about that task that makes the writer in me come alive.   (Photo credit:  jefftunn)

This morning I was composing an email back to a subscriber named Barbara Ann Hartman who wrote, “……That will be an adventure for you, I know.  Are you thinking of moving elsewhere???”  She was referring to a string of latest updates here at Adversity University, some of which might lead me to an opportunity in another part of the country.

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Folks, not only is it the end of yet another week, but summer is drawing to a fast close.  It’s been an amazingly quick year.  I know they say the older you get, the faster time flies but THAT FAST? (Photo Credit:  labutle)

WOW.

Let’s start with a gratitude quote:

See how many are better off than you are, but consider how many are worse.  Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC - 65) Roman philosopher and playwright

Even wise men of long ago recognized the value of perception.  This is why I believe polarity exists.  You could not possibly understand the value of what you have if you weren’t aware of what you didn’t have.  Having an attitude of gratitude has become a powerful tool to reprogram our minds to fish out the good in life.

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Continuing from Part I with a woman destined to change the world of women, empowering and uplifting them.

Welcome back Sharmaine!

9.  We all have a dark side, what’s yours?

I don’t have a dark side.  I don’t think of myself in that way.  There are areas in my life that need to be “shored up”, like giving myself the same care that I so easily and effortlessly give to others; listening to my own advice; asking for help when I need it.

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When I first wrote How I will Lose 20 lbs. in 30 Days:  An Experiment, I knew I was truly putting myself out there.  Once it went live, there was no turning back.  And because of that, every time I was faced with a choice because of “life intervening,” I was very much motivated to stay on track and not deviate.

Why?

Because everybody back “home” (Adversity University) was eagerly watching and waiting for the results!

Well, gosh, it’s been an interesting week for sure.

Ah, what a week and weekend!  For those die-hard Adversity University fans, you already know this gratitude post is VERY LATE.  Three…….okay, four days if you include Monday!

A week ago, the server that hosts this blog experienced four brief shutdowns.  FOUR.  But to their credit, they got it back up and running quickly.  Without realizing it until just now, that’s definitely something I’m grateful for.  Having a server that’s quick, responsive and attentive - I like and appreciate that.

Even if they experienced four “shutdowns” in one week (way too many, in my opinion), they still came out ahead because of their customer service.  But if the server keeps bombing like that, I may have no choice but to move elsewhere.  We’ll see what happens - let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

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For those of you who are used to my middle-of-the-week interview postings, either you figured it out or already knew from my previous article, “How I will Lose 20 lbs. in 30 Days,” that I was postponing this week’s interview because of a server problem on Monday.  As a result, I lost the original weight-loss experiment article, which forced me to rewrite and post it again, pushing everything back a day or two.

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If you are an email subscriber, you probably got this “How I Will Lose 20 lbs. in 30 Days:  An Experiment” earlier this morning.  However, if you then went back to the article to leave a comment or re-read it or pass it on to others, you would have not found it.  (Photo credit:  estacey)

Like the puppy in the photo, I didn’t understand what was happening.

It wasn’t before long when I heard from Top Hosting Center (THC) that there was a corruption problem in the SQL database, which unfortunately meant that the original post had disappeared.  POOF.  They said I would have to rewrite it AGAIN.

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By the way, do you realize today is 8/8/08?  Hmm..wonder what that could mean?

Anyway, I have a new idea for this week’s gratitude post.  This time what I want to do is focus on you.  I started blogging in 2006 for a handful of reasons, which I will go into in a moment.

Granted, I have no idea if all of you read my blog posts every time a new one comes out.  But one thing I do know is that there are just over 500 of you who subscribe to Adversity University for one reason or another.

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If the title of today’s post made you take a double look, it wasn’t because you were imagining things.  It’s for real.

Ever since I started the interview series at Adversity University last year, I’ve managed to do an interview every single week.  But for the first time, I had more people in the pipeline who weren’t ready for air time.  That left me with the only option I knew of.

Karen Putz once planted a seed in my mind saying that if I were ever to find myself in that position, she’d be happy to “sub” and interview me instead.

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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.

It’s exciting to continue on with my weekly interviews because it’s truly having a powerful effect on the Adversity University community in different ways.

Here’s a small sampling of comments I’ve been receiving lately about the Stephen Hopson Interviews.  Because so many of you have left comments on a variety of different interviews, I thought it’d only be fair if I pulled out a handful of names from this month’s comment champs (see sidebar “Monthly Comment Champs”) for today’s post .  Photo credit:  JennyYo).

From Jennifer, Principles of Peace:

It was great to have him here. I enjoyed that……

From Tom Stine, Spiritual Life Coach:

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Did you all have a good week?  I wanted to post my weekly gratitude post last night but I had technical difficulties after installing a new modem from Time Warner and ended up spending several hours with a very helpful technician troubleshooting.

Finally at 2 a.m. we pinpointed the source of the problem and fixed it.  But that led to the creation of another problem that will have to be dealt with at a later time (i.e. my videophone no longer works - ACK!).

Putting things in perspective though, at least I’m back online!  (Image credit: Drama Mafia )

But that’s not the subject of today’s gratitude post.

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I’m thrilled to be bringing Chris Guillebeau of The Art of Non-Conformity to Adversity University.  He’s someone truly different from the rest of the bloggers I’ve interviewed here.  In fact, he was in a guest house somewhere in Erbil, Kurdistan, a nice peaceful place, not at all like the rest of Iraq!

I mean, IRAQ?  Wow.  I wonder if he was scared to be so close to a war zone.  Imagine that!

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