Archive for January, 2008
Whatever your dreams, goals, or aspirations, today is the time to take a step. Yesterday, Jeff and I had some time to spare in the afternoon and we decided to go ahead with an idea that we have been talking about. So we called our videographer and asked him to come over and tape us talking about subjects near and dear to our hearts: relationships, health, wealth and yes, even sex!
We;ve been getting ourselves out there on internet radio but not on video and it’s something we have a desire to do. Who knows where it will go. Who knows what will happen. In a way I don’t care–because doing it was such great fun. We laughed, we had a great chat, we got some good stuff on tape, and now our guy is going to put the three 12-minute segments on the web. Podfandango, u-tube that kind of thing.
Millions of people are connecting on the web, so if you have an idea, do it. Take the bull by the horns and do what you want to do. Enjoy it. Have fun. Laugh a lot. Happiness is doing what you want to do. Unhappiness is talking about it and never doing it. So just for today, make one small step towards your dream. However, hokey, idiotic or daft it may seem to you, just do it. You never know what will happen! Rock N Roll Val & Jeff
January 23rd, 2008
It is so easy to be a victim that situations come along all the time that can test us! We just got some fraudulent orders from Nigeria that cost us over $10,000 in book and shipping costs. American Express just went into our bank account and took the money out. i called them up and a very nice lady said, “the owner of the card disputed the charge.” So someone in Nigeria had stolen a credit card and charged books on it.
And I am really working on not getting upset, so after a conversation with the lady I said, “Well, I know it’s not your fault and you can’t personally do anything about it. I do think it sucks and that’s the way it is.” She laughed with me because she knows it sucks. And she’s got a job where she has to deal with this kind of stuff all day long.
Now the ‘old’ me would have gotten really, really mad and gone on and on about it. The ‘new’ and reformed me, knows that I want to be the change in the world. I don’t want to spread disharmony. I don’t want to steal from other people. Now I know how it feels, I want to do great business. I want to partner with people who want to do great business. And I need to be vigilant about my business.
I have a choice. I should have checked the name and address on the credit card with the name to which the shipment was going. I think American Express and Merchant Services should have told me that. They should have said that an authorization code is not a safe guard against fraud. Authorization simply means that the credit cards has enough funds to pay for the books or whatever you are selling….it does not mean that the owner of the card is the person purchasing your goods.
So what have I learned? That it is my choice. Everything is my choice. If I make a bad business decision, then it is my choice how I react. It’s not Nigeria, it’s not Merchant Services, it’s not American Express. I need to be vigilant in my dealings. I need to make sure that every transaction is clean. So my friend, be happy, make great choices, and when you do not–let it go. Every day is a new day. Every day is a new opportunity to do it differently. Be the change you want to see in the world. Rock N Roll Val & Jeff
January 22nd, 2008
About three months ago we got an email from a bookstore in Nigeria who wanted to order $5,000 worth of books. Now were’ not dumb, we know that there is a lot of fraudulent business dealing in Nigeria, but we wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. So we asked for their credit card and checked it out with our Merchant Services company and got verification to send the books.
We had to pay UPS in cash to deliver the books, which came to over $1,000. Good deal, we felt good, we enjoyed thinking that our books were being read by people in Nigeria. Then life’s stuff took over. First we got a call from the credit card company, then we got a letter, then we got the amount debited from our account. So now we are in negotiations with the credit card company and re-creating the entire contract, sending faxes of the emails, and the UPS tracking and delivery numbers etc., etc.
What I noticed most however, was my reaction to all this. Now Jeff is great. He handles things in a completely different way from me. 1) he does not freak out. 2) he accepts lifes stuff, and 3) he remains happy throughout the situation. Me on the other hand–well I have to work really hard at not freaking out and getting very angry. I even thought about sending a kind of voodoo email to the bookstore, saying that ‘what goes around comes around….’
And the thing is…nothing has actually happened. Yes, a transaction has gone bad. Yes, we have lost some money, and yes, we learned not to send books to Nigeria unless they give us cash for them. But in the big picture of life, nothing has actually happened. I have not been murdered, or attacked or had anyone shouting at me. Our business is still thriving. Jeff and I are still working well together. We still have business partners in Cairo, the UK, Australia, South Africa and Guatemala. We are still going strong.
So what I have learned is this. There are people out there who are asleep. They think that cheating people is the only way they can earn a living. They do not realize that when we cheat, lie, or steal that the only people we are really hurting is ourselves. The people who make fraudulent deals are having to live with those thoughts in their minds. They are having to think of ways to steal and cheat. What if they put their thoughts to having a clean business instead? Their minds would become free….they would not be slaves to fear.
Whatever happens to us in our lives, the one thing we always have is freedom of choice. We can either become unhappy, angry and miserable about it, or we can choose to let it go. We can have a better feeling thought. So for my Nigerian fraudulent friends I send you these thoughts: I wish you many blessings. I with you joy and happiness. I wish you to have a thriving and wholesome business. I wish you abundance. And most of all, I wish you forgiveness for your actions. Rock N Roll. Val & Jeff
January 18th, 2008