Hello again;
I’m writing this because I have decided to find a solution instead of making excuses.
I traveled to Philidelphia by Amtrak to speak at MAPCON, the Mid-Atlantic Podcasters Conference.
My train was delayed, and my suitcase went to Pittsburg instead.
I talked with the manager at the 30th Street Station terminal, and she told me that the bag was most likely still there.
She told me that they would do their best to return it to me by today at 3:00 PM (or so) as a train makes the run from Pittsburg to Philadelphia every day.
Still, I had lost the use of my suitcase. Inside was my new suit, the new vest outfit, my promotional T-shirts, copies of my books, and my laptop.
When people asked me what I was going to do, I said, “Hey I’m the NO EXCUSES guy. I’m going to do what I can.”
So, this morning, I took a shower and put on my clothes from earlier.
Then I went to the first day of the conference like nothing had ever happened.
I was my usual inspiring, larger-than-life self.
I charmed the people, and I was mentioned often from the microphone.
I told the host my friend Super Joe Pardo that if my luggage didn’t show up, I was going to do my talk in a conference T-shirt.
I have the shirt here in my room, and I will wear it with pride and educate people on how to use radio shows and podcasts to promote their own shows.
I have also decided that just because my laptop is missing doesn’t mean I can’t post to my site.
I went and downloaded the word press app for my iPad.
Then I installed it and entered the login information.
I’m actually typing this right from the WordPress app… something I would never do if I had my laptop.
You will let me know how well or poorly this post turns out. 🙂
Either way, it’s a step forward.
One of my goals for this year is to be able to do everything I need to do from my tablet or iPhone.
The point of this is I could have said, “Oh, woe is me.” I could have hidden in my room or bitched and moaned about what I didn’t have.
Well, I grew up with people who didn’t believe it complaining. They believed in figuring out what to do next.
I am really sorry my suitcase is missing. I really hope it turns up. It contains the first suit that I bought willingly!
So many people had a hand in putting it together.
Like everything else missing, it can all be replaced.
And that could be a story too.
I hope the suitcase shows up. But I’m not going to have a bad time if it doesn’t. Or if it doesn’t until I”m ready to leave town.
Because of the calm friendly way I approached this last night, the manager at Amtrak went and Googled me and we talked about my books and writing before she put me in a cab at their expense.
I hope the bag turns up before Monday. I’d hate to have to head home or to another speaking event not knowing what happened to it.
I’ll let you know.
As for now, this post is also for my editor Lorraine Reguly.
She suggested a post on excuses people make.
The original intent was to include excuses such as “I’m too old,” “I don’t have enough time,” “I can’t afford it,” etc.
I thought this post would be a great beginning. Maybe I’ll write a series of posts why a given obstacle shouldn’t be an excuse that keeps you from your dreams.
Watch for those posts.
In the meantime, what are you allowing to keep you from showing up and rocking your life?
It doesn’t have to be a big thing. It could be something small like how your voice sounds on a recorder or how you look in photos or how tough it is to access certain websites with a screen reader. 🙂
I look forward to hearing about your experiences.
Until next time, thank you, God bless you, and take care out there.
~ Max
Well done Max! I recall when I traveled to Cyprus; my suit case stayed in Istanbul, for a week LOL. I did have access to some clothes – the guy we house sat for wore the same size as me – but had to wait for all the other stuff. Eventually, after sprinting to a border crossing in 110 degree heat – long story LOL – I got my suitcase. But really; how flexible we are when things go South plays a massive role in whether you show up or not. Good for you buddy!
Ryan
Hi Ryan; Flexibility is important, but so is deciding to do well in spite of major setbacks like losing your clothes, laptop, etc. People always ask why I check my bag. My answer is it ain’t easy navigating with a suit case and a white cane no matter how smoothly it rolls. It just felt like something I needed to write for me and for those people who follow me. Appreciate your awesome comments. And I didn’t even think about blorrowing clothes or buying them. I think it fits my brand to do a talk in the host’s event t-shirt. TOnight the host of an event in Florida talked about having me speak there in the spring. He gave me one of his shirts to wear tomorrow. Wish i had some fabrice. Tomorrow will make four days on this pair of jean. Lol. Thanks again buddy, Max
Well, holy shit, Max! Gee whiz. Leave it to you to go and lose your suitcase.
My God. I must admit that m a little stunned to hear about what happened to you period after all of your careful planning, saving to go on this trip, and looking forward to having an awesome time, you got a little bit let down by a lost suitcase.
What amazes me, however, is your positive attitude about the whole situation. I know that I would certainly be pissed off if this were to happen to me. I would also let it affect me in a very negative way.
But not you. You go right ahead and write a blog post about it and find a solution almost immediately. You don’t let it bring you down. You realize that things are just things, and that they can all be replaced. You go to the conference despite what you’re going through, and you lead by example. Wow! You truly are the epitome of a man who walks his talk.
I am so impressed with you right now! Your attitude is simply incredible!
Thank you for sharing this amazing story with everybody. It proves to them that you are an astounding person, an inspiration, and definitely the “no excuses” guy. I really hope that they find your suitcase and that they get it back to you! I would hate for you to have to replace a suit, a laptop, and all those books. That sure is one expensive suitcase to lose!
But, like you, I believe that everything happens for a reason, and I think you are going to get your suitcase back in time. Please let me know when you do! I’m worried about you. Even though I know I don’t need to be. Because you just proved that I don’t. Sending you hugs and kisses and hoping the rest of your trip goes well!
And I know that you already read a similar comment on Facebook, but I wanted to beef up your SEO and your blog by adding this here. 😉 Also, thanks for the mention in the post! 🙂
Hi Lorraine; As I read this thinking about how well I’m handling it all it reminded me of how badly I handled the disappointing book signing in Austin this summer.
And the big difference I can see between the two is the people.
When I went to Austin it was pretty much just me. I didn’t have any real relationships with any of the people at half price books.
I hadn’t even done much with them online.
But here at MAPCON there were many people who I had met last year at Dreamcon. There were and are fellow bloggers and podcasters who have been through the same things or experienced setbacks just as difficult to them.
I had talked on the phone, exchanged emails, or been interviewed on the shows of some of the people here.
In short I had a community, a family, and a support system.
And while you and me know there are a lot of blind people out there killing it most of them aren’t putting themselves out there like I do.
And I am the only 6 ft 5 blind former carnie now equipment broker blogger podcaster author speaker radio show host singer anyone is going to meet.
With all humility people want to like me and I do my best not to disappoint. Thanks for the comment. PS Do you agree that the post was shorter possibly because I was typing it on my Bluetooth keyboard that goes to my tablet?
Yes. It takes a while to get used to using a new device.
I have been experimenting myself with using speech to text software to record some of my blog posts and I am always surprised at how short they are when I check the word count!
As for your recent experience with losing your suitcase, I am happy to hear that you got it back. And I’m also happy that you had a wonderful support system in place this time to help you better deal with the situation!
Hi Lorraine; Well, I feel like if I can share my story with fewer words and in less time that would actually be a good thing. Routinely writing 2,000 word plus posts takes a lot of effort. And that doesn’t include adding the links, images, videos, headings, etc. And well I make friends easily. It helped this time that there were over 100 people who do what I do or at least have an interest in it. Darn I have to go edit my newest post In the section about wins I forgot about selling a set of my three books. Please read my next post and let me know if I screwed up any of the technical aspects of posting. Love you, Max
Hi Max, well done!
A similar thing happened to me when I started my new job in the United Arab Emirates. All of my luggage was lost. Some teachers were kind enough to lend me some clothes for the first three days. My luggage was also lost returning to Costa Rica. My wait ended up securing me a job in Indonesia so you never know …
Great that you went on , just as confident as always! The delay of your clothes even made your story more spectacular since you shared your challenges and response to it! Yay, Team Max! Looking forward to hearing more about Word Camp in NYC when you return.
Amy
Thanks Amy;
That sounds like quite a story. 🙂
Our schedule was pretty packed, so never thought about buying some clothes.
Also, my sizes even now aren’t always available.
And you are right by sharing openly I made my appearance all the more powerful.
We both know they wanted to be impressed, inspired, and motivated by me.
The lost bag and the way I handled it just gave them more reasons to do so.
My dad always said when a choice is available be a showman instead of a carnie.
This weekend, I believe I was a showman. 😀
Thanks again my friend, max